Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lawyers have asked the Jerusalem District Court to call his media adviser, Topaz Luk, one of the prime minister's closest aides, to testify in his criminal trial on Monday, November 16.
The request came to light on Thursday, ahead of another week of hearings in the case. Luk handles Netanyahu's media work and, among other things, films the short videos the prime minister posts on social media.
The request adds to a busy witness schedule for next week. On Sunday, November 15, retired police officer Oded Ram, who served as an investigator in Case 1000, is due to testify. The defense wants Luk on the stand on Monday. On Tuesday, November 17, attorney Pini Rubin, who represents businessman Arnon Milchan, is scheduled to testify.
Rubin took part in a meeting about Milchan's tax affairs that was held in the basement of Yair Lapid's home while Lapid was serving as finance minister. Beyond the identities of Ram and Rubin and the dates of their appearances, no further details about their testimony have been released.
The latest developments follow the cross-examination of former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit. Netanyahu's defense attorney, Amit Hadad, questioned him about the approvals given to investigate ties between Netanyahu and the newspaper Israel Hayom.
Asked about one line of inquiry, Mandelblit replied: "I'm not familiar with that. To the best of my knowledge, I did not approve investigating that line."
At a separate hearing, the question arose of whether Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara could be summoned to court. Referring to the possibility that the panel would summon her on its own initiative, Judge Oded Shaham said: "It's not certain a request is needed, we thought we should do it ourselves."
