Judge dismisses case against Amir Ohana due to his parliamentary immunity

15 June 2021, 10:06 pm

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A judge in the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court dismisses a lawsuit against former Likud minister Amir Ohana filed by an ex-aide to former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The judge in the case rejects the lawsuit filed in late 2019 by Nir Hefetz against Ohana — who was at the time the public security minister and is currently a Likud MK — for violating a gag order, because Ohana is protected by parliamentary immunity.

In November 2019, Ohana gave a speech on the Knesset floor railing against what he described as police misconduct in leaning on Hefetz to testify against Netanyahu in his ongoing corruption trial. Ohana alleged that police threatened to reveal a relationship Hefetz had with a young woman to his family if he did not cooperate with the prosecutors.

In her ruling, the judge makes clear that she has “no choice” but to dismiss the case due to Ohana’s immunity, but that she views his speech as a “clear abuse of his power” and says she is disheartened that Ohana chose to violate the gag order “for his own purposes.”