Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complained of a cough and a cold during his testimony under cross-examination in the Tel Aviv District Court on Wednesday morning, leading the judges to agree to his request to truncate the hearing.

Netanyahu said the cold had “refused to get better” and that his doctor recommended he take several days’ rest or at least shorten his workday. His office later said that he was suffering from bronchitis.

The hearing had been scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m., but Netanyahu requested at around midday that he testify for only another hour or two.

He then went home to rest, his office said.

The request immediately sparked criticism of the prime minister, who visited newly released hostages at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva on Tuesday night, where he was pictured hugging and embracing several of them.

“If Netanyahu has a cold that refuses to subside, as he claimed today in court, why did he visit survivors of captivity with weakened immune systems yesterday and put them at risk?” Prof. Hagai........

© The Times of Israel