Israel’s parliament extends protection to Netanyahu from possible ouster

The latest move by the Netanyahu government has drawn severe attack from the Opposition and critics as they have alleged that it would protect the incumbent Prime Minister, who is currently facing a corruption trial, from getting removed from office due to his legal woes.

Speaking to the media, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid described the legislation as “disgraceful” and corruptly “personalised” and said Netanyahu is “looking out only for himself”, CNN reported.

The new law is seen as part of a larger set of judicial reforms such as providing a greater role to lawmakers in the appointment of Supreme Court judges and overriding any of their judgements by a simple majority of 61 votes unless those rulings are unanimous. While Netanyahu and his allies believe these changes are necessary to limit the Supreme Court’s “overreach”, opponents have claimed that they would undermine judicial independence and encourage authoritarianism.

What is the new law?

The latest legislature stipulates that only the Prime Minister themselves or the cabinet, with a two-thirds majority, can declare the leader unfit to hold office on physical or mental grounds. This stands in contrast to the older rule regarding removing a sitting Prime Minister that “lacked details on circumstances that may give rise to such situations”, Reuters mentioned in a recent report.

A statement released by the Knesset said, “the authority to declare the Prime Minister incapacitated will only belong to the government or the Knesset and will only occur due to physical or mental incapacity.”

It further added that, as per the new law, the Supreme Court can’t consider “a request to declare the incapacity of the Prime Minister.”

“Given that a sitting Prime Minister derives his power and authority from the people through his representatives, this proposal reflects the existing concept according to which the removal of the leader against his will, will be determined by the people’s representatives alone without the involvement of an unelected arm,” the statement said, CNN reported.

What is the criticism against the new law?

The passing of the latest legislature has come not much after Gali Baharav-Miara, Israel’s attorney-general, ordered Netanyahu to not get involved in his government’s judicial overhaul due to a conflict of interest arising from his corruption trial. The Prime Minister is currently facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three cases.

His opponents believe that the law has been enacted so that neither Baharav-Miara nor the Supreme Court can declare Netanyahu unfit to hold office.

“Like thieves in the night, the coalition just passed a disgraceful and corrupt personalised law in response to a baseless rumour about recusal. Every citizen of Israel should know – days before Passover, while the cost of living is soaring, Netanyahu is once more looking out only for himself,” Lapid said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s supporters such as Ofir Katz, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, have claimed that the legislature would bring “stability” by making it harder to remove a Prime Minister against their will, the BBC reported.

What are the cases against Netanyahu?

The corruption trial against Netanyahu consists of the so-called Case 1000, Case 2000 and Case 4000.

Case 1000 pertains to the charge of fraud and breach of trust for gifts worth over $280,000 that Netanyahu and his wife Sara received from Oscar-nominated Israeli-American Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan (‘L.A. Confidential’, ‘The Revenant’, ‘Birdman’, ’12 Years a Slave’, ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’, ‘Fight Club’) and Australian businessman James Packer (the son of Kerry Packer, the founder of World Series Cricket), in return for political favours between 2007 and 2016. Netanyahu hasn’t denied accepting these gifts. His defence maintains that it is acceptable to receive gifts from friends.

Case 2000 is about a charge of fraud and breach of trust for a deal that Netanyahu struck before the 2015 elections with Arnon ‘Noni’ Mozes, owner of the Hebrew-language Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s largest selling daily newspaper, for favourable coverage in return for legislation to damage the rival daily newspaper Israel Hayom. This deal was never finalised.

Case 4000 constitutes the most serious charges against Netanyahu, of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu is alleged to have granted regulatory favours worth over $500 million to Israel’s largest telecommunications company Bezeq Telecom between 2012-2017, in return for favourable coverage.