High Court to hear petition calling for Netanyahu’s removal over conflict of interest

The High Court of Justice says it will agree to hear a petition demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be removed from office due to his flouting the conflict of interest agreement he signed amid his ongoing trial.

The petition was filed by a group of activists calling themselves “The Democratic Bastion,” among them former IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz. Judge Ruth Ronnen ruled that the petition will be examined by a panel of justices in the near future.

According to the state’s response to the petition, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara views the case as unnecessary since the court already struck down a petition claiming Netanyahu was in contempt of court in May.

The conflict of interest agreement, which Netanyahu signed with the previous attorney general, requires him to avoid involvement in judicial legislation as it could affect his case.

Critics say that as prime minister overseeing the coalition’s radical judicial overhaul plan, it is impossible for Netanyahu to not involve himself in the matter. He has also increasingly been reported to be directly involved in the legislation efforts.

In March, Baharav-Miara informed Netanyahu that he had violated the conflict of interest agreement after he announced that he would ignore it moving forward and deeply involve himself in the overhaul legislation. Netanyahu’s announcement that night came after the Knesset passed a law designed to shield him from being removed from office for breaking the agreement’s boundaries.

She called his statements and any further involvement in the legislation “illegal and tainted by a conflict of interest.”

The overhaul was frozen by Netanyahu days later for a period of several months, putting the matter on the backburner.