Under trial in corruption charges, Israeli PM Netanyahu gets legislative protection

Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will now have legislative protection from being ousted even after he has been found guilty in a corruption case, the trial of which is ongoing in the Supreme Court.

The Israeli parliament, Knesset, has passed a law that limits the chances of the prime minister being removed, despite the opposition's outcry that judicial independence is in peril.

The religious-nationalist coalition, which holds a majority in parliament, has redefined the circumstances under which a national leader can be removed by amending the definition of "incapacity". The coalition says the changes are aimed at countering what they perceive as an overreach by the Supreme Court and restoring balance among the government branches.

The recent stipulations have added details to a quasi-constitutional "basic law" that guides the government on how to handle a non-functioning prime minister. Previously, the law did not mention any specific circumstances that could give rise to such a situation.

According to the non-partisan Israel Democracy Institute, the old rule left Prime Minister Netanyahu vulnerable to a possible assertion of incapacity by Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara if she believed he was trying to halt his three ongoing court cases. The new law prevents this possibility, although IDI senior researcher Amir Fuchs notes that such a finding by Baharav-Miara was unlikely, to begin with.

Netanyahu denies all charges against him and claims that the trials are politically motivated attempts to remove him from office.