Israel top court hears case against Netanyahu coalition deal

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Supreme Court was hearing arguments Monday against the legality of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition deal with formal rival Benny Gantz, a day after it deliberated on whether the longtime leader could head a government while indicted on serious crimes.

The court’s ruling, expected by the end of the week, will dictate whether Israel breaks out of its prolonged political paralysis with Netanyahu and Gantz joining forces in government, or whether the country is plunged into its fourth consecutive election in just over a year.

The unprecedented live broadcast proceedings are also shaping up as a dramatic climax to Netanyahu’s campaign against the Israeli legal establishment.

Netanyahu and his allies have long considered the high court a liberal bastion that overreached its boundaries to meddle in political affairs, accusing it of undermining the will of the people as expressed in national elections. His opponents regard the court as the final safeguard of Israeli democracy that have been under dangerous assault from demagogic populists.

With protests taking place outside the court house, an unusually large panel of 11 justices, all wearing face masks and separated by plastic barriers, were hearing the case against the emerging coalition.

After deadlocking in three nasty election campaigns, Netanyahu and Gantz reached a deal last month in which they would be sworn in together for an emergency government to battle the coronoavirus and its economic fallout.

The deal calls for Netanyahu to serve first as prime minister and Gantz as the designated premier, with the two swapping positions after 18 months. The new position will enjoy all the trappings of the prime minister, including an official residence and — key for Netanyahu — an exemption from a law that requires all public officials, except a prime minister, to resign if charged with a crime.

The court will be tasked with ruling on this arrangement.

Netanyahu has been charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals in which he is accused of offering favors to media moguls in exchange for favorable press coverage. He denies the accusations and says he is the victim of a media-orchestrated witch hunt. His trial was postponed in March due to restrictions his hand-picked interim justice minister placed on the courts after the coronavirus crisis erupted. It is now scheduled to start later this month.

Netanyahu is eager to remain in office throughout his trial, using his position to lash out at the judicial system and rally support among his base. The coalition deal also gives him influence over key judicial appointments, creating a potential conflict of interest during an appeals process if he is convicted. Netanyahu’s attorneys, though, say he will refrain from getting involved in anything pertaining to his own case.

Israel’s attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, said in an opinion to the court that while Netanyahu’s indictments “raise significant problems,” there was no legal basis for barring him from serving while facing criminal charges. But good governance groups have appealed against this, citing the precedent of forcing Cabinet ministers and mayors to resign if indicted.

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