JERUSALEM (JTA) – The corruption trial of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will not be postponed due to the prosecutor’s leave of absence, a court ruled.
The Jerusalem District Court ruled Wednesday against the Prosecutor’s Office request to postpone the trial by three months after Jerusalem District Prosecutor Uri Korb went on leave for an unannounced period of time. The hearing of testimony was set to begin next week.
While the trial will not be postponed, only one hearing will be held next week and then two for the next several weeks, with the trial resuming its regular schedule on April 6.
Korb was set to conduct the trial in court and knows the prosecution’s case the best, Haaretz reported.
He took the leave Sunday at the request of the Justice Ministry following the publication over the weekend of insulting statements he made about judges and attorneys associated with the ministry while teaching a college seminar.
His statements will be investigated by a disciplinary committee at the Civil Service Commission. Korb faces sanctions ranging from a reprimand to dismissal.
During his course on the judiciary, Korb told the students at Sha’arei Mishpat College in Hod Hasharon that "a large portion of the judges in the State of Israel are major asses."
