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{"source_url": "https://timesofmalta.com", "url": "https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/israels-netanyahu-to-ask-parliament-for-immunity.760503", "title": "Israel's Netanyahu to ask parliament for immunity", "top_image": "https://cdn-attachments.timesofmalta.com/c101474575c4015c7363a7957982755a164edca3-1577910437-5e0d00a5-1200x630.jpg", "meta_img": "https://cdn-attachments.timesofmalta.com/c101474575c4015c7363a7957982755a164edca3-1577910437-5e0d00a5-1200x630.jpg", "images": ["https://cdn-attachments.timesofmalta.com/c101474575c4015c7363a7957982755a164edca3-1577910437-5e0d00a5-1200x630.jpg", "https://cdn-attachments.timesofmalta.com/7148d5936b0f97ff8511e0a78f483fe23330b8ed-1577909846-5e0cfe56-630x420.jpg", "https://timesofmalta.com/img/logo/logo-square.svg"], "movies": [], "text": "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he would ask parliament for immunity, weeks after the embattled premier was indicted on a range of corruption charges.\n\nThe move is expected to delay the start of court proceedings for months, as lawmakers are not due to vote on the matter until after March 2 elections.\n\n\"I intend to make a request to the speaker of the Knesset,\" Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving premier and leader of the right-wing Likud party, told reporters in Jerusalem.\n\nThe request \"would be in line with the law... (and) with the goal of continuing to serve you, for the future of Israel.\"\n\nNetanyahu was charged by the attorney general in November with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate corruption cases.\n\nHe denies the allegations and accuses prosecutors and the media of a witch hunt.\n\nReacting to the premier's announcement, his rival Benny Gantz, the leader of the centrist Blue and White party, said \"Netanyahu knows that he is guilty.\"\n\nGantz said his own party will do everything it can to \"prevent immunity\".\n\n\"In Israel, nobody is above the law\".\n\nA sitting prime minister is only required to step down once convicted and after all avenues of appeal have been exhausted.\n\n'Only the people decide'\n\nBut legal experts have asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether a premier can be tasked by the president with forming a new government while under indictment.\n\nA panel of three judges began looking into the matter on Tuesday, and said they would make a ruling at a later time, without giving a date.\n\nNetanyahu has described the legal initiative as a trap.\n\nBut \"I don't for a moment think that Israel's Supreme Court will fall into this trap. In a democracy, only the people decide who will lead them, and nobody else,\" Netanyahu said on Twitter on Tuesday.\n\nAllegations against the premier include receiving gifts worth thousands of dollars and offering to change regulations in exchange for positive media coverage.\n\nDespite his legal woes, Netanyahu remains popular within Likud and last week secured a landslide victory in a leadership challenge.\n\nHe saw off a bid to wrest control of the party by one-time interior minister Gideon Saar, winning with 72.5% of Likud members' ballots, compared with 27.5% for the challenger.\n\nThe result strengthened his position in a party he has dominated for 20 years, with Netanyahu calling it a \"huge win\".\n\nSaar launched his bid after the premier failed to cobble together a governing coalition in the wake of two general elections in 2019 - one held in April, the second in September.\n\nHe said his challenge was \"not because of the Likud's ideas\", but because a failure to change leadership would bring the risk of a left-wing government.\n\nLikud and the Blue and White party were deadlocked in April and September, necessitating a third national poll within a year.\n\nThe premier has vowed to win the March general election, although early opinion polls indicate the vote could result in yet another stalemate.", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": [""], "tags": [], "authors": [], "publish_date": null, "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he would ask parliament for immunity, weeks after the embattled premier was indicted on a range of corruption charges.\nThe move is expected to delay the start of court proceedings for months, as lawmakers are not due to vote on the matter...", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "/img/icons/icon-48.png", "meta_data": {"description": "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he would ask parliament for immunity, weeks after the embattled premier was indicted on a range of corruption charges.\nThe move is expected to delay the start of court proceedings for months, as lawmakers are not due to vote on the matter...", "og": {"description": "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he would ask parliament for immunity, weeks after the embattled premier was indicted on a range of corruption charges.\nThe move is expected to delay the start of court proceedings for months, as lawmakers are not due to vote on the matter...", "image": "https://cdn-attachments.timesofmalta.com/c101474575c4015c7363a7957982755a164edca3-1577910437-5e0d00a5-1200x630.jpg", "title": "Israel's Netanyahu to ask parliament for immunity", "url": "https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/israels-netanyahu-to-ask-parliament-for-immunity.760503", "site_name": "Times of Malta", "type": "article"}, "fb": {"app_id": 356697991023219}, "article": {"publisher": "https://facebook.com/timesofmalta"}, "twitter": {"card": "summary_large_image", "site": "@TheTimesofMalta", "title": "Israel's Netanyahu to ask parliament for immunity", "description": "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he would ask parliament for immunity, weeks after the embattled premier was indicted on a range of corruption charges.\nThe move is expected to delay the start of court proceedings for months, as lawmakers are not due to vote on the matter...", "image": "https://cdn-attachments.timesofmalta.com/c101474575c4015c7363a7957982755a164edca3-1577910437-5e0d00a5-1200x630.jpg"}, "viewport": "width=device-width, initial-scale=1", "http-equiv": "text/html; charset=UTF-8", "apple-mobile-web-app-title": "Times of Malta", "msapplication-TileColor": "#131313", "msapplication-TileImage": "/img/icons/ms-tile-144.png"}, "canonical_link": "https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/israels-netanyahu-to-ask-parliament-for-immunity.760503"} |
