Trial & tribulations

Bibi faces Jan. restart, & COVID anger

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial will resume in earnest in January, with thriceweekly evidentiary hearings set to begin then, a Jerusalem court decided Sunday.

It was not clear if Netanyahu would be required to be present at each hearing, although some Israeli media reported he would. He did not appear at Sunday’s hearing.

The grueling judicial schedule will keep Netanyahu’s legal woes firmly in the national consciousness and conversation — and continue to raise questions over whether he can keep serving while standing trial.

The trial opened in May after a two-month delay prompted by concerns over the coronavirus.

Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. He is alleged to have received lavish gifts from billionaire friends and to have exchanged regulatory favors with media moguls for more agreeable news coverage.

Netanyahu denies wrongdoing, painting the accusations as a media-orchestrated witch hunt.

At the first hearing in May, just before appearing in front of the judges, Netanyahu took to a podium inside the courthouse and, flanked by his party members, bashed the country’s legal institutions in an angry tirade.

On Sunday, a judge decided that the trial’s evidentiary stage would begin in January and would take place three times a week.

Netanyahu’s lawyer had asked for a delay in the proceedings because of the virus, saying mask-wearing impeded his job of questioning witnesses.

The trial will resume as Netanyahu faces widespread anger and protests over his government’s handling of the pandemic.

While the country appeared to have tamped down a first wave of infections, a hasty and erratic reopening has sent them soaring. Yet even amid the rise in new cases, Netanyahu and his emergency government — formed with the goal of dealing with the crisis — appeared to neglect the numbers and moved forward with its reopening plans.

It has since reimposed restrictions, including a weekend-only lockdown set to begin later this week.

Israel has seen nearly 50,000 cases since the outbreak began, with 406 deaths. Daily cases have risen to nearly 2,000 with unemployment hitting 20 percent.

The trial’s resumption thus comes at inopportune timing for the long-serving leader. Netanyahu had hoped to ride on the goodwill he gained from overcoming the first wave of infections, but the souring mood has dropped his approval ratings. Only a smattering of supporters turned up outside the court Sunday, far fewer than the throngs who converged at the trial’s opening.