Herzog: ‘Not a drop of schadenfreude’ over PM’s questioning

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog says he is not deriving any enjoyment from Netanyahu’s police interrogation, set for later today.

“This is not a happy day; this is a difficult day for Israel,” says Herzog at the start of the weekly Zionist Union faction meeting. “We don’t have a drop of schadenfreude.”

But the opposition leader also slams both proposed bills to prevent a sitting prime minister from being questioned, as Likud MK David Amsalem suggested yesterday, and a cabinet-backed proposal to raise money abroad to cover the costs of the State of Israel’s 70th anniversary celebrations in May 2018.

On the latter, he says: “The context [of the police investigation] is if not pathetic, then ironic.” He is referring to reports Netanyahu’s questioning is related to “valuable gifts” accepted by the premier.

The plan to raise money privately “smells, and is not respectful,” he says, urging the government to fund the celebrations from the state budget.

Zionist Union MK Merav Michaeli quotes Netanyahu from years ago, when he raised concerns about then-prime minister Ehud Olmert, who was being investigated for graft.

“It cannot be that a prime minister will be exempt from investigations,” she says, referring to Amsalem’s bill.

At the same time, she agrees that the party does not see this as a “happy” development.

— Marissa Newman