Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked to defer the March 17 start of his corruption trial by 45 days.

Netanyahu's lawyer, Amit Hadad, said the prime minister's counsel hasn't received all the material from the investigation. A 45-day delay would allow the prosecution to transfer the material and give the defense time to review it and assess how much time it will need to prepare for any pretrial motions, Hadad wrote in a letter to the Jerusalem District Court.