Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit tells the High Court of Justice he sees no legal impediment to have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tasked with forming the government.
The court is set to issue a ruling on a petition on the matter next week.
A High Court decision passed in the 1990s bars ministers from serving if they are under criminal indictment, but the law and previous rulings say nothing about a prime minister. The petition urges judges to rule that an indicted politician cannot serve as prime minister.
Netanyahu is indicted in three corruption cases, including bribery in one of them.
Mandelblit also tells the court that despite “significant legal difficulties,” he also thinks the coalition agreement signed by Netanyahu and Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz should not be altered despite requiring far-reaching law changes, including to quasi-constitutional Basic Laws.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, April 30, 2020
