Ministers to debate bill granting PM immunity from prosecution

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday will debate a bill that would give Israel’s sitting prime minister immunity from certain types of police investigations and criminal prosecution.

A ministerial vote on the bill, proposed by Likud MK David Amsalem after the announcement that police have launched criminal investigations into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would be delayed to allow coalition partners to coordinate positions on the legislation, The Marker business daily reported on Sunday.

Amsalem’s bill would amend Israel’s Basic Law to prohibit police from investigating an incumbent premier for fraud, bribery and breach of trust. It would not offer protection from security, sex, violence or drug-related offenses.

The legislation would allow sitting prime ministers, who in Israel have no term limit, to serve out the remainder of their tenure before police could launch open an investigation into suspected wrongdoing.

In announcing his bill earlier this month, Amsalem claimed media “eagerness” surrounding the latest Netanyahu probe was threatening Israel’s democratic foundations.

He linked the current corruption investigation to efforts to oust the prime minister and his right-wing government from power. Still, the bill would not affect the current probes against Netanyahu.

The prime minister is being investigated in two separate cases. The first pertains to recordings of conversations between him and Israeli media mogul Arnon “Noni” Mozes in which the pair allegedly negotiated an illicit quid pro quo.

The second investigation into Netanyahu is probing claims that he and his family received hundreds of thousands of shekels’ worth of luxury gifts from businessmen, including Israeli Hollywood film producer Arnon Milchan.

Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and repeatedly stressed that nothing will come of the criminal investigations.

Justice Minister Ayalet Shaked from the Jewish Home party has expressed cautious support for Amsalem’s legislation, saying it could allow the prime minister to “handle state affairs appropriately.”

Both Shaked and Amsalem pointed to similar immunity laws that exist in France as precedent for the bill.

France’s president, who has a five-year term limit, cannot be prosecuted for most offenses aside from high treason, though French lawmakers recently moved to ease impeachment rules as a way of allowing criminal prosecutions to move forward.

Even if Amsalem’s bill were to pass all three Knesset readings and become law, it would not be applicable retroactively, and wouldn’t offer Netanyahu protection from the current police investigations.

Earlier this year, Amsalem floated another version of his bill that offered the premier immunity for “minor transgressions” that generally hold a sentence of under six months in prison.

That proposal was met with widespread criticism, and a statement from the Likud party at the time said the legislation “was not coordinated with the prime minister and was made without his knowledge.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.