Netanyahu arranges meeting with Paraguay parliament speaker in court, hearing cut short

Latorre brought into courtroom by Knesset Speaker Ohana; PM scolds judges for refusing to cancel hearing in his corruption trial

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arranged a meeting with the president of Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies, Raúl Latorre, at the Tel Aviv District Court on Monday, after the judges in his trial had on Sunday refused his request to cancel the day’s hearing.

Netanyahu had bitterly complained to the judges at the beginning of Monday’s hearing in his criminal trial about their decision to hear his testimony from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and told the judges he would be meeting Latorre at the courthouse, and that he then had to leave to prepare for another meeting at 12:30 p.m. with the US Ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack.

Although the judges initially told him their decision was final, following further comments by Netanyahu in court after the hearing started that he had to leave by 10:30 a.m., and after a brief consultation between the judges and the defense and prosecution attorneys, the judges then agreed to end the hearing at 10:20 a.m, Hebrew media reported.

As the judges were leaving, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana brought Latorre into the courtroom, where Netanyahu and Latorre exchanged a few words, and then left the courtroom to speak outside.

“We are here to give you our full support. We admire you and see you as one of the main leaders of the free world,” Latorre told Netanyahu.

“My brother here spoke with me about how unfair this trial is,” Latorre continued in reference to Ohana, who was standing beside him. Netanyahu interjected and declared the trial to be “comical,” and apologized to Latorre that he had to meet with him “in these circumstances.”

On Sunday, Netanyahu’s defense attorneys had filed a request to the court that the prime minister’s testimony be canceled due to his scheduled meetings with Latorre and Barrack.

The judges in response agreed to end the hearing by 11:30 a.m. to enable Netanyahu to make his 12:30 p.m. meeting but not to cancel the entire day’s testimony.

“We requested not to hold the hearing today, I cannot meet him [Latorre] unless he comes here,” the prime minister told the judges at the beginning of the hearing, Ynet reported.

“He will come here, and it will be embarrassing if he is not able to meet with me because of the hearing,” Netanyahu warned the judges.

He also repeated his complaint, made numerous times in recent months, that the court has increased his testimony from two to three times a week.

Several opposition members denounced Netanyahu’s behavior, and that of Ohana, including Leader of the Opposition Yair Lapid.

“This is a disgrace. Instead of taking him [Latorre] to Nir Oz, they take him to the court,” said Lapid in reference to Kibbutz Nir Oz, which was brutally attacked by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

“When I said that Ohana is the speaker of half the Knesset, he got insulted, and this is exactly [what it means] to be speaker of half the Knesset, involving him [Latorre] in the prime minister’s trial.

“Netanyahu has become an embarrassing event to the State of Israel in [front of] the entire world.”