Corruption proceedings against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to resume in January, a Jerusalem court has said.
Mr Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes as part of a series of scandals in which the Prime Minister is alleged to have received gifts from billionaire friends and done deals with media owners in exchange for better coverage of himself and his family.
He denies any wrongdoing and has hit out at the allegations as a witch hunt by a biased media and law enforcement system.
The court’s decision to resume in January followed the trial’s second hearing, a procedural deliberation. The trial began in May after a two-month delay amid coronavirus fears.
The announcement comes as Mr Netanyahu faces growing anger over the way the Israeli government has dealt with the coronavirus outbreak and its economic fallout.
Although Israel seemed to have got a first wave of infections under control, what critics have denounced as a hasty and erratic reopening has sent infections soaring.
Despite a rise in new cases Mr Netanyahu's emergency government, set up to manage the crisis, pushed on with plans to reopen.
Israel has since reimposed restrictions, including a weekend-only lockdown.
The country has seen nearly 50,000 virus cases since the outbreak began, with 406 deaths, a relatively low number. More than 21,000 people have recovered. But daily cases have risen to nearly 2,000 since lockdown first ended.
Critics have also hit out at the government for the way it has handled of the economic fallout of the crisis.
While the government has pledged billions of dollars worth of aid, it has not all been doled out to those in need, and a plan to give a handout to all Israelis, even the wealthy, has been panned by the country’s leading economists.
Unemployment has jumped to more than 20 per cent, up from around 4 per cent before the lockdown.
Widespread anger has since led to protests in recent weeks and violent clashes with police.
It's unclear if Mr Netanyahu will need to be present at the hearings, although local media reported that this is the case.
Mr Netanyahu has served as Israel's Prime Minister since 2009, and previously from 1996-1999.
