Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal team has filed a request with the Jerusalem District Court seeking to delay his testimony in his corruption trial for two and a half months, claiming that a series of security incidents that occurred during the time he had to prepare for the testimony made the task “impossible,” Hebrew media outlets reported early Monday.

The request reportedly cited several major developments in the war in recent months, adding that they “caused most of the time slots meant to prepare the prime minister to give his testimony to be canceled due to urgent security or diplomatic needs.”

It contended that “this small delay will enable the defense to properly prepare for his testimony and won’t harm the public interest.”