Lawmakers spar in Knesset over panel to weigh Netanyahu immunity

Mayhem takes over the Knesset’s Arrangements Committee Sunday as right-wing lawmakers walk out of a discussion on whether the parliament will be able to accept or reject a potential request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for immunity from prosecution in three corruption cases.

The heated debate surrounded the question of whether a House Committee can be formed during a transitional government, and which body will decide whether that committee is formed before the March elections.

The Knesset House Committee, which weighs immunity requests, has been nonfunctional amid the political impasse resulting from two inconclusive elections. With third elections scheduled for March, the committee — unless revived — will remain inactive for months to come.

The Blue and White party is demanding that the Arrangements Committee, headed by its member Avi Nissenkorn, decide whether a House Committee will be created. But Netanyahu’s party, Likud, has furiously pushed for the decision to be made by a new Agreements Committee jointly headed by Nissenkorn and Likud MK Miki Zohar.

The discussion quickly becomes heated, with Nissenkorn saying: “I don’t know if Netanyahu will file a request for immunity, but we won’t leave the cat to guard the cream. The body qualified to determine whether a House Committee will be formed is the Arrangements Committee, which represents the makeup of the Knesset. I will not agree to a situation in which we can’t form a House Committee if needed.”

MK Zohar accuses Nissenkorn of “shameful conduct,” with the discussion devolving into a shouting match. He and most members of the right-wing parties supporting Netanyahu walked out of the discussion in protest.

Though criminal charges against Netanyahu were announced last month, an indictment cannot be lodged in court until the premier is given a chance to request immunity.

— Michael Bachner