The Supreme Court rejected Wednesday morning former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s attempt to delay his hearing on corruption charges to September, asking his lawyers to withdraw their appeal and accept State Prosecutor Menachem Mazuz’s proposal to hold the hearing in August.
Olmert is currently in the U.S. to undergo surgery for prostate cancer in June. He had asked the court for extra time to recover from the operation. He withdrew the appeal a short time after the judges made their recommendation.
Judge Edmund Levi was particularly harsh. “I was deeply troubled when I saw that we have to deal with such a ridiculous appeal and push off important criminal cases. Your fight with the State Prosecutor is stealing our important judicial time,” he said.
Judge Miriam Naor agreed. “The request does not have any legal basis. The State Prosecutor’s proposal to hold the hearing by the middle of August is completely reasonable and Olmert should accept it,” she said.
Olmert faces the possibility of conviction in three separate corruption cases. In one case he has been accused of accepting cash donations while mayor of Jerusalem, in the second he is suspected of charging the government double for trips he took abroad, and in the third he has been accused of having a conflict of interests in an investment scheme.