Knesset speaker says vote to form immunity panel will be held next week

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein announces that the Knesset plenum will convene next week to vote on forming the panel that will deliberate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for parliamentary immunity.

“Even though I disagree with the position of the Knesset legal adviser, I believe that in order to maintain trust in the institution of Knesset speaker by all the factions it is important to accept it,” Edelstein says in a statement.

Edelstein is referring to a legal opinion last week by Eyal Yinon that says the House Committee can be convened despite the Knesset being in recess ahead of the March 2 election.

The committee is widely expected to reject Netanyahu’s request for immunity from graft charges in three criminal cases.

Edelstein says the vote will take place after January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but doesn’t specify an exact date. He explains the vote will not be this week due to the arrival of world leaders in Jerusalem for commemorations marking 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz.

“In an important diplomatic week for Israel… I will not allow a brawl in the Knesset building,” he says.