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By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been working in a bunker in the basement of his office in Jerusalem since his home in Caesarea was hit by a UAV last month, Channel 12 reported Sunday.
Although he and his family weren’t in the house at the time and the building only suffered minor exterior damage from the Hezbollah-sent drone, security around the prime minister was tightened due to the obvious threat.
Usually, Netanyahu works with his senior aides in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in what is known as the “aquarium” due to its glass walls. It is a sterile area on an upper floor in the government’s Jerusalem building complex.
Cabinet meetings that usually took place in the PMO were also moved to the basement’s fortified room. As this is smaller than the office, the ministers were told that they could not bring their usual aides along anymore.
The Shin Bet internal security agency also recommended that he should not stay in fixed locations.
‘Bitter mistake’: Hezbollah drone targets Netanyahu’s home, hits building
This may be another reason behind Netanyahu’s lawyers’ request to the court Tuesday that his corruption trials be postponed for two and a half months.
The defense is supposed to begin its counterattack on December 2nd, and Netanyahu is going to need to attend court. Doing so on a known basis a few times a week could make planning an attack on him much easier.
The public reasons given by the lawyers include Netanyahu’s need for more time prepare his defense due to the long hours he spends on the ongoing war – and that the court building has no safe room or bomb shelter.
The State Attorney’s Office has objected to the request, as the cases have dragged on since 2020 and “Beginning the case for the defense at the set time is necessary in order to protect the public interest, the fairness of the process, and the fundamental principle that everyone is equal before the law.”
Netanyahu reportedly cited the security issue outright when discussing recently the idea of postponing his son Avner’s wedding, which was supposed to take place on November 26th.
Kan News reported that he had told confidantes that he was worried about the safety of attendees at the festivities that were to be held in Tel Aviv.
Contradicting Netanyahu, Lebanese PM says US ‘guaranteed’ Israel limiting Beirut strikes
“For missiles, we have good detection and interception systems,” he reportedly said, in seeming contrast to the UAVs Hezbollah has launched at Israel.
The Iranian terror proxy has been firing many more drones, and at at longer ranges, over recent months than at the beginning of the war.
Their more erratic flight path makes them more difficult to track and several have slipped through the IDF’s aerial defenses, killing and injuring dozens of civilians and soldiers, including twelve Druze children in the Golan Heights town of Majdal Shams in one July attack alone.
Avner Netanyahu and his partner, Amit Yardeni, who have been together for the last two years, decided to push off their nuptials until next summer.
