The Israeli high court has decided to take up a petition calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for breaking the terms of the conflict-of-interest agreement he signed while facing charges of fraud, breach of trust, and corruption.
According to Israeli media, the 73-year-old leader of the right-wing Likud political party signed an agreement with former attorney general Avichai Mandelblit that forbids him from taking part in judicial legislation that might have an impact on the outcomes of his cases.
Judge Ruth Ronnen decided on Thursday that a panel of justices will review the petition soon, but she did not set a date for the hearing.
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The so-called Fortress of Democracy, who filed the petition, based their argument on a letter written by the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, informing Netanyahu that he had broken the conflict of interest agreement in March.
Additionally, Baharav-Miara cautioned that Netanyahu’s continued involvement in the purported judicial reforms that aim to limit the authority of the so-called Supreme Court would be “illegal and tainted by a conflict of interest.
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Following Netanyahu’s announcement that he would no longer abide by the conflict of interest agreement and would instead take part in the highly contentious legislation, the Israeli attorney general responded with a stern letter.
Netanyahu was protected from impeachment for violating the terms of the agreement by a law that the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) passed hours earlier.
An advocate for the petitioners, Dafna Holz-Lechner, stated that the group was happy that the matter would be discussed.
If the violations are discovered to have occurred, Holz-Lechner pointed out that the only logical outcome would be to remove Netanyahu as prime minister.
Three different lawsuits name Netanyahu as a defendant.
According to the first, Milchan and Packer were among the wealthy friends who gave the 73-year-old Israeli leader gifts totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In the second instance, Netanyahu is charged with arranging favorable coverage in a significant Israeli newspaper in return for supporting legislation that would have hurt the paper’s main rival.
The third, known as Case 4000, alleges that Netanyahu supported legislation worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the owner of Israeli telecom giant Bezeq in exchange for favorable coverage on its Walla news website.
Initially, the goal of the proposed judicial reform was to prevent the Supreme Court from overturning legislative actions.
According to pro-Netanyahu legislators, the new bill would be a much softer version of earlier proposals that sought to almost completely roll back the Supreme Court’s authority to rule against the executive. However, according to the opposition, corruption would still be allowed to flourish under the new bill.
Netanyahu has been charged with acting “illegally” by Baharav-Miara in supporting the reforms. She pointed out that the prime minister is attempting to advance the plan in light of his protracted corruption trial, in which he is charged with fraud and breach of trust.
