The judges in the trial of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the prosecution’s request to amend his indictment.

Since the beginning of the trial, the prosecution’s case against the former prime minister has seemed weak. The prosecutors were counting on their most important witness, former director of the Ministry of Communications and Netanyahu confidant Shlomo Filber, incriminating him.

State witnesses are notoriously problematic, as are inevitably concerning with protecting themselves. Filber’s cross-examination by Netanyahu’s lawyers over the last few weeks revealed the apparent carelessness with which the prosecution indicted a serving prime minister.

During questioning by the defense, it became apparent that the meeting at which Netanyahu allegedly ordered Filber to provide benefits to former media tycoon Shaul Elovitch could not have taken place on its alleged date. It was a major embarrassment for the prosecution, which insisted that the discrepancy was insignificant. But to change the charges to involve a meeting on an unknown date would require amending the original indictment, but the judges ruled that they could not agree to amend such a significant detail. For the record, Netanyahu continues to argue that no such meeting ever took place.