Netanyahu tells Likud MK to drop immunity bill

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told a Likud lawmaker to shelve proposed legislation which would have shielded him from prosecution, the party says in a statement.

Miki Zohar had sought to fast-track a bill that would allow alter parliamentary immunity laws so that indictments can only be filed against lawmakers after the Knesset has given approval, reverting to a practice overhauled 12 years ago amid criticism that it protected corrupt and criminal MKs from prosecution.

“Netanyahu doesn’t want the bill and has asked Zohar not to advance it,” Likud says. “Prime Minister Netanyahu knows there won’t be an indictment because there is nothing” in it.

Netanyahu is being investigated in connection with three separate graft cases involving suspicions of illegal gift-taking and quid-pro-quo arrangements.