The Jerusalem District Court agreed on Saturday night to cancel a scheduled hearing on Monday for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s testimony in his criminal trial, due to his upcoming trip to the US to meet with US President Donald Trump.

The court refused, however, to cancel a second hearing planned for Wednesday, and ordered the defense to put another defense witness on the stand on Monday. It ruled that Netanyahu would have to make up the canceled hearing later this month.

Netanyahu began giving testimony in his trial on corruption charges on December 10 last year, but has repeatedly requested that hearings be canceled due to the responsibilities of his position, illness, and other scheduling issues.

Netanyahu’s defense attorney Amit Hadad filed a request to the court on Saturday, stating that Trump had invited the prime minister to the White House during Netanyahu’s current trip to Hungary.

According to Hadad, the purpose of the meeting would be to discuss efforts to secure a hostage release agreement, the tariffs Trump imposed on Israeli goods as part of his hike on tariffs for every US trading partner, and the current combat operations in Gaza.

Hadad specifically mentioned the tariff issue and said that there was “great importance for........

© The Times of Israel