Knesset Shields Netanyahu From Recusal In 61-47 Final Vote

By Staff, Agencies

The Zionist regime’s parliament [Knesset] approved into ‘law’ a bill that would protect the entity’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from a ‘court’ order to recuse himself, in an early Thursday morning final vote of 61 Knesset members in favor and 47 against.

The bill passed its second and third [final] readings following hours-long, heated discussions in the plenum that stretched into the early morning.

The opposition had filed numerous objections to the bill, which was fast-tracked in Knesset’s House Committee, and promised to stage a fiery filibuster against the ‘legislation,’ seen as being “tailored” to save Netanyahu from potential ‘legal’ trouble. The stalling proved to be largely symbolic, as the bill’s sponsor, Likud faction chairman MK Ofir Katz, agreed with the opposition to limit debate on the recusal bill to a maximum of 16 hours. Deliberations began Wednesday night, and the ‘law’ passed around 6:00 am Thursday.

The legislation explicitly blocks the top court from ordering a prime minister to take a leave of absence, and is widely seen as a reaction to fears that the so-called ‘High Court of Justice’ could force Netanyahu to step down, due to the potential conflict of interest created by him overseeing his coalition’s bid to dramatically overhaul the judiciary while he is himself on trial for multiple corruption charges.

Netanyahu is on trial in three separate cases and facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust for allegedly taking expensive gifts from benefactors and attempting to arrange secret deals with media companies for more positive coverage. He, however, denies wrongdoing.

According to the ‘recusal law’, only a three-quarters majority vote of government ministers or MKs can push a premier to take a temporary leave, and then, only for mental or physical health reasons.