The corruption trial of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will not resume until after Israel’s parliamentary elections on March 23. It is Israel’s fourth round of elections in the last two years.
The Jerusalem District Court ruled late Monday that witness testimony in Netanyahu’s trial will begin on April 5, after the election, Netanyahu’s attorneys had argued that resuming the trial before the elections would have an unfair influence on voters.
The court rejected a motion to dismiss the charges in three different corruption cases. They also said that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit did not follow proper procedure in the cases, including not filing an official request to investigate Netanyahu.
Earlier this month Netanyahu appeared in a Jerusalem courtroom to plead not guilty to the charges.