In a dramatic shift of the Israeli national focus, the long-running corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to resume this Sunday, April 12, following the lifting of a national state of emergency.
The announcement from the courts' spokesperson on Thursday came just hours after Israel signaled a halt to direct military exchanges with Iran, which had effectively paused the legal proceedings.
The state of emergency, which shuttered schools and workplaces across Israel, was originally imposed following a massive escalation that began on February 28 when joint Israeli and U.S. air strikes targeted Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure.
With a ceasefire now tentatively in place, despite ongoing tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Israeli judicial system is returning to full operation and has stated that hearings will resume as usual from Sundays through Wednesdays.
Prime Minister Netanyahu currently faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust dating back to 2019, and as the first sitting Israeli prime minister to be criminally charged, he has consistently denied all allegations while labeling the trial a political "witch hunt."
The proceedings have been plagued by years of delays due to official commitments and, most recently, the regional conflict.
The resumption of the trial has already reignited a fierce political debate over a potential presidential pardon, a move supported by President Donald Trump, who has argued that regular court appearances hinder Netanyahu's ability to govern during a time of crisis.
While President Isaac Herzog’s office confirmed it is gathering legal opinions on the matter, officials have noted that pardons are virtually never granted in the middle of an ongoing trial.
The timing of the trial's return is particularly precarious for the Prime Minister as national elections loom in October 2026.
Netanyahu's coalition, which remains the most right-wing in Israel's history, is currently trailing in the polls as critics argue that the mounting legal pressure, combined with the security failures of October 2023 and the subsequent regional instability, has severely compromised his standing with the Israeli public.
As the court prepares to restart, the intersection of Netanyahu's legal fate and Israel's political future remains at the forefront of the national discourse.