Ministers advance bill that would help Netanyahu keep donation for legal defense

The Ministerial Committee on Legislation advances a Likud-backed bill to ease donations to lawmakers, despite the measure being attacked by the attorney general and watchdogs decrying the bill as an opening for political corruption.

If passed into law after three Knesset votes, the measure would enable Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to keep $270,000 he received from his now-deceased cousin and former benefactor Nathan Milikowsky. Last year, the High Court of Justice ordered the premier to return the gift by February 2023 to Milkowsky’s estate, on the grounds that the funds for legal expenses were an illicit gift.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara told Justice Minister Yariv Levin earlier today that her office is against the bill, and that it is “harmful” and “contrary to the purpose of the [existing political gifts] law.”