Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was given special leave Monday to delay his testimony Tuesday in his trial because of special circumstances — leading to speculation about a strike on Iran, or a hostage deal with Hamas.
Netanyahu has been testifying in his own defense in a trial whose central allegation is that he sought better media coverage from a hostile press. His testimony, thus far, has made the charges seem as spurious as critics suggested.
However, on Monday the judge announced, after conferring privately with the lawyers for both sides, that the prime minister’s testimony Tuesday would be postponed — leading to speculation about what those circumstances might be.
The Times of Israel reported that Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, told members of the Knesset that a hostage deal with Hamas was closer than it has ever been. Hamas is still holding 100 Israelis, at least half of them still alive.
Hamas became more flexible after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened “ALL HELL TO PAY” if they did not release the hostages by January 20; the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon; and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria.
It is also possible that Israel, with the possible cooperation of the U.S., is about to strike Iran’s nuclear sites, having destroyed Iran’s air defenses in response to ballistic missile attacks, and having destroyed Syria’s defenses last week.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
