JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Supreme Court granted Ehud Olmert’s request to postpone a hearing in one of the cases against him in order to seek cancer treatment abroad.
Justice Miriam Naor ruled Friday that the hearing cannot be held before May 10.
Olmert had been scheduled to appear before Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on April 19 in the Rishon Tours affair. Mazuz has warned the former prime minister’s attorneys that he plans to indict Olmert in the case pending the hearings.
Mazuz had rejected a request to postpone the hearing, despite a letter saying Olmert’s cancer required immediate treatment, the Jerusalem Post reported. Olmert’s attorneys petitioned the court earlier in the week to postpone the hearing and also requested that Mazuz organize a joint hearing on all three of the affairs in which the attorney general has indicated he will serve an indictment.
The state told the court it had already postponed the hearing three times. The state also pointed out that Olmert need not be present for the hearing.
Olmert is due to fly to the United States on April 13 for treatment of his prostate cancer, which was diagnosed more than a year ago.
