Jerusalem District Court: Netanyahu's hearings will start Jan 2021 - 3 times week

In the Jerusalem District Court, all parties to the trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gathered today (Sunday) for a special hearing to determine the schedule. So when will the prime minister have to appear on the dock? Who represents him? And did the prosecution hide the investigation materials? Ynet makes an order.
This is a reminder hearing, a type of working meeting in which the parties update the court on how they have progressed in studying the material, and set schedules for the administration of the trial.
Because it is essentially a technical hearing, the four defendants in the Alps cases - Prime Minister Netanyahu, Shaul and Iris Elowitz and Noni Mozes, were granted an exemption from appearing, but Elowitz chose to come to the court because of his defense attorneys' claims about the discrepancies between transcripts and recordings.
Requests for the disclosure of investigative materials and the removal of confidentiality will be submitted by September 13, 2020, while the response to the indictment and preliminary allegations will be submitted by October 18. The state will respond in writing to the preliminary allegations by November 1, so that the parties will have two months to prepare for the evidentiary phase.
In January 2021, the evidentiary phase of the trial will begin, in which prosecution witnesses will testify for three days a week. The four defendants, including the prime minister, should be present in the courtroom. Recall that each of the defendants will be able to file a request for adjournment of the schedule on the grounds of a change in circumstances.
Advocate Yossi Segev, who recently joined Netanyahu's defense team, appeared for today's reminder hearing after Adv. Micha Petman resigned from the representation following the Permits Committee's decision not to allow the prime minister to receive NIS 10 million in funding for his legal defense. Segev is a lawyer who specializes in tax law and has experience in criminal law, and this was Netanyahu's first appearance.
Segev surprised the court by explaining that he was in fact given a power of attorney only for the reminder hearing and the question of representation still depends on the arrangement of funding. Judge Rebecca Friedman-Feldman reacted impatiently: "I hope my lord does not change. I do not want to find ourselves at the next hearing with a lawyer who says the representation has not been settled. This case is from January, it is impossible for someone else to come every time."
However, although Adv. Segev announced that he had begun studying the investigation materials, the plaintiff, Adv. Liat Ben-Ari, informed the court that in the two months that had passed since the first hearing in Netanyahu's cases, she had been approached by Elowitz and Mozes to obtain clarification on the investigation materials. , While Netanyahu's defense attorneys did not contact her even once.
The person who stood out in his absence today at the hearing was Adv. Amit Hadad, who accompanied the prime minister from the beginning of the legal proceedings. Although each party was allowed to bring only one representative into the courtroom, in the previous hearing Hadad waited outside the courtroom and followed the hearing live.
The departure of Adv. Fatman has joined a long line of senior lawyers who have represented Netanyahu in recent years, and advised him. These include attorneys Navot Tel Tzur, Yossi Ashkenazi, Keren Shapira Ettinger, Pini Rubin, Yaron Kostelitz and Ram Caspi.
Prosecutor Liat Ben-Ari announced that professionally the State Attorney's Office plans to begin the evidentiary phase in the order of the indictments. That is, a 4000 portfolio at first, then a 2000 portfolio and finally a 1000 portfolio.
However, she stressed that the prosecution would be flexible to change the order of disputes if the parties filed motions. Advocate Segev asked to postpone the trial for six months because of the corona. "As you can see, we are not ready yet ... I mean the corona period. How can I interrogate witnesses and I am here with a mask? "He asked. Judge Friedman-Feldman replied:" Believe me it is possible. "
 In the end, the court ruled that the evidentiary phase will take place early next year and that Benjamin Netanyahu's trial will take place three times a week. The question at hand is whether Netanyahu will be required to appear at all discussions and whether he will be required to take a kind of leave of absence from his position as prime minister.