Israeli law aids corruption
At the end of the day, Israel’s High Court of Justice did what is expected of a judicial system and ruled in accordance with the law of the country. Late last Wednesday night, the highest court in the land struck down a petition to bar a criminally indicted lawmaker from forming a government; paving the way for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lead his fifth administration despite his impending trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The court was asked to look into two key questions: Whether a politician facing corruption charges, such as Netanyahu, can form a new government, and whether his coalition deal with Benny Gantz, Blue and White’s leader, violated the law. The most senior judges in the country decided that it was not for the judicial branch to intervene. Even more significantly, they decided not to disqualify Netanyahu from remaining prime minister during his trial.
We will never know if the judges were influenced by Netanyahu’s claim that to prevent him from forming a coalition would lay the blame for a fourth election in a year at their doorstep, or whether it was his menacing declaration that, “We hope the court doesn’t interfere. It doesn’t need to interfere. There is the will of the people, the clear expression of the will of the people.” This has been Netanyahu’s style throughout his career: Incite, threaten and divide, and always act as both the savior of the people and the victim of the establishment. He conveniently forgets that the will of the people was to see him gone.
Following the judges’ decision not to act as the saviors of justice and ethical behavior in government, it was the left and liberal-progressive forces’ turn to lambast them. They accused the judges of being cowed into making their decision and of failing to stand firm as the last bastion of the country’s democratic values. While the behavior of the first was deplorable, the lament of the latter might be understandable, but it was regrettable too. Their criticisms should be directed at the law itself for allowing such a situation and the corrupt nature of the politicians embroiled in what is probably the worst and most cynical betrayal of voters in Israel’s history. It is no surprise that Netanyahu behaves like the head of a criminal organization rather than a democratic leader when the law permits a prime minister to serve while facing serious corruption charges.
The void in the law screams of wrongdoing. When it comes to a sitting prime minister, the Basic Law, which carries constitutional weight in Israel, does not apply. That is both illogical, immoral and encourages corruption at the very top of the political pyramid.
One reason Netanyahu’s lawyers gave the court as to why he should be allowed to stay as prime minister was that he, and only he, is “uniquely deserving” of leading the country. This raises a number of concerns, chiefly: If he is right, Israel’s future is in real jeopardy and it has no prospect of a worthy leader beyond him; and, more fundamentally, whether anyone in such a megalomaniacal state of mind is fit to be anywhere near the reins of power, not only legally, but mentally too.
Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations at Regent’s University London. Twitter: @YMekelberg
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