Why is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being indicted by Israel’s Attorney General?
Global Pulse

Why is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being indicted by Israel’s Attorney General?

Netanyahu is facing three different corruption charges ranging from breach of trust and fraud to bribery.

   
Benjamin Netanyahu

File image of Benjamin Netanyahu | Representational image | Kobi Wolf | Bloomberg

New Delhi: Israel’s Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit, indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on three different charges of corruption Thursday. However, given the political deadlock in the country, it might be several months before Netanyahu can be formally charged with the offences, reported The Times of Israel.

What are the charges against Netanyahu?

The three charges against Netanyahu have come to be known as Case 1000, 2000 and 4000.

In Case 1000, he has been charged with fraud and breach of trust. “He is alleged to have received various high-value benefits, including pink champagne and cigars, in return for favours for a wealthy friend,” noted a BBC report.

In Case 2000, he again faces charges of fraud and breach of trust. Here, he is accused of entering into a deal with a major publisher and agreeing to promote a legislation, which would favour an Israeli newspaper over its key rival.

In Case 4000 — the most serious case against him — Netanyahu is being accused of bribery along with fraud and breach of trust. “It is alleged that Mr. Netanyahu promoted regulatory decisions that favoured a leading telecommunications company in return for favourable news coverage from one of its websites, as part of an agreement with the company’s controlling shareholder,” reported BBC.

The legal road ahead 

None of the leading political parties in Israel could form a government after the recent elections. If this political stalemate continues, it might lead to another round of elections and postpone Netanyahu’s formal indictment by a few months.

No sitting Israeli prime minister has ever been indicted and thus it is unclear how the country’s High Court will proceed in the matter. According to Israeli law, Netanyahu can continue as prime minister until he is convicted or is replaced via elections. The law also guarantees functional immunity to all lawmakers, but not procedural immunity.

“As opposed to functional immunity, which protects lawmakers from prosecution for crimes committed in fulfilling their parliamentary work, procedural immunity, or inviolability, relates to unrelated offenses such as murder, rape or bribery,” noted The Times of Israel.

Thus, the country’s parliament will have to grant procedural immunity to Netanyahu.

After the AG informs the Knesset (Parliament) speaker about the decision to indict Netanyahu, the latter would have thirty days to ask the parliament for procedural immunity.

According to The Times of Israel, “If Netanyahu decides that he wants procedural immunity, the Knesset House Committee, and later the entire plenary, will debate the merits of his requests and then vote on it”.

“However, due to the present political stalemate and the lack of a functioning government coalition, there currently is no House Committee, which means that Netanyahu’s immunity cannot be discussed,” it added.