Netanyahu’s fate as PM in hands of Israel’s Supreme Court

JERUSALEM — Israel’s Supreme Court began a two-day hearing Sunday to determine whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s indictment on criminal charges disqualifies him from forming a new government.

A ruling against Netanyahu would likely trigger a snap election, the fourth since April 2019, as the country grapples with the coronavirus crisis and its economic fallout.

Netanyahu and his main rival Benny Gantz signed an agreement last month to form a unity government under which they would take turns leading Israel after three elections that neither of them won.

In power for more than a decade and currently head of a caretaker government, rightwing Netanyahu will serve as prime minister of a new administration for 18 months before handing the reins to centrist Gantz, according to the unity deal.

The pact has support from a majority in parliament. But several groups, including opposition parties and democracy watchdogs, have petitioned Israel’s highest court to nullify the deal and bar Netanyahu from leading the government, citing the criminal proceedings against him.

Responding to the petition, Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit wrote to the court saying that there was no sufficient legal ground to disqualify Netanyahu.

He described the case as a “head-on collision” between “on one side the most basic democratic principle of honouring the will of the majority ... (and) on the other integrity in public service, specifically among elected officials.”