Israel’s governing coalition on Monday introduced a bill that would abolish the criminal offenses of fraud and breach of trust. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is suspected of these facts in three cases.
According to the proposers of the proposal, fraud and breach of trust is a vague and redundant collective crime. They say that Israeli law has enough more concrete criminal offenses to combat corruption, including bribery, money laundering, insider trading and forgery.
Netanyahu has been on trial in various corruption cases for years. This involves accepting expensive gifts, influencing news coverage and bribery. It is not clear whether the bill would apply retroactively. In addition to criminal charges at home, the International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on suspicion of war crimes.
Several Israeli politicians have strongly criticized the proposal. For example, opposition leader Yair Lapid calls it “a full-fledged coup that will turn Israel into a failed, backward third world country.” Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing Democratic Party (a merger of the Workers’ Party and Meretz), calls the bill a “mafia-like move by a government whose top figures are evading justice and the rule of law.”
Weakening the judiciary
The bill is part of a series of attempts by the coalition to delay or even scrap the long-running trial against the prime minister and to weaken the judiciary. For example, in October last year she submitted a proposal to postpone the trial against Netanyahu.
These attempts are generally met by Chief Prosecutor Gali Baharav-Miara, who considers such proposals unconstitutional. The coalition therefore wanted to dismiss Baharav-Miara and limit the powers of her office. Her dismissal has been postponed for the time being blocked by the Supreme Court.
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In November, the prime minister submitted a formal request for a pardon to President Isaac Herzog. This request had already been made by American President Donald Trump. Netanyahu calls the trial against him a “politically motivated witch hunt.”
Netanyahu’s Likud party also initiated a bill expanding the legal immunity of parliamentarians, which would ban criminal investigations against them. In addition to Netanyahu, two ministers and two representatives of the coalition are also suspected of fraud and breach of trust.
Israelis took to the streets en masse
More generally, the coalition has been trying for years to reform the legal system, which critics say affects the independence of the judiciary. Especially before October 7, 2023, Israelis took to the streets en masse to protest against the reforms.
Since the shaky ceasefire in Gaza was concluded in October last year, the government has once again focused its attention on the justice system. For example, far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich recently said he would expel Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, whom he called a “violent megalomaniac.”trample”.
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