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Netanyahu Can Stay On As PM Despite Indictment, Says Attorney General

  Advertisement Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can stay on in his post although he has been indicted on corruption charges, Israel’s attorney general said Monday. … Continue reading Netanyahu Can Stay On As PM Despite Indictment, Says Attorney General

By Soonest Nathaniel
Updated November 25, 2019
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) attends the funeral of Sergeant First Class Zachary Baumel at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on April 4 2019. The body of the Israeli soldier, missing since the 1982 Lebanon War, was found by the Russian and Syrian armies, President Vladimir Putin said on April 4. Sergeant First Class Zachary Baumel had been listed as missing along with two other Israeli soldiers after a deadly battle with Syrian forces in a Lebanese village, and the return of his remains will bring to a close a highly sensitive case for Israelis. Russia said it handed over the remains to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is visiting Putin five days before he is to seek a fifth term in office in a difficult election. MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can stay on in his post although he has been indicted on corruption charges, Israel’s attorney general said Monday.

Avichai Mandelblit, in a statement, said: “there are no legal obligations for the prime minister to resign”.

Under Israeli law, while ministers cannot keep their posts after an indictment, a prime minister is not legally required to step down unless convicted and with all appeals exhausted.

But the embattled premier has faced calls to resign from several politicians since Mandelblit last Thursday charged him with bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.

READ ALSO: Defiant Netanyahu Rejects Graft Indictment, Vows To Stay

The indictment comes as Israel edges closer to its third general election in a year, after two inconclusive polls in April and September, with Netanyahu and centrist rival Benny Gantz unable to form a government.

Gantz’s Blue and White party won one more seat than Netanyahu’s rightwing Likud in the September polls.

Parliament now has less than three weeks to find a candidate who can gain the support of more than half of the Knesset’s 120 lawmakers, or a deeply unpopular third election will be called.

Netanyahu remains the country’s interim premier.

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