Israel Knesset forms committee to discuss Netanyahu immunity request

Members of the Arrangements Committee of the Israeli Knesset yesterday voted to form a House Committee to discuss the immunity request of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, local media reported.

This came after Knesset legal adviser, Eyal Yinon, ruled that the Knesset speaker had no power to block the Knesset meetings or prevent the formation of committees.

According to the Times of Israel, the Likud faction chair MK Miki Zohar left the discussion and vowed to challenge the meeting, which he said was illegitimate in the High Court.

Netanyahu and his supporters argued that the House Committee should not be formed, because the Israeli government is in a period of transition, the Times of Israel reported.

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They also argued that it should not be formed, due to insufficient time before the elections for the committee to properly weigh the immunity requests. They claim that the intention is to affect Netanyahu’s opportunity of remaining in power.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu lashed out at the Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) party, accusing it of commandeering the Knesset to push him out of power, as the committee is widely expected to reject his request for parliamentary immunity.

“Blue and White has zero achievements for Israeli citizens to show, so they hijacked the Knesset to advance their only campaign — ‘Just not Bibi’,” tweeted Netanyahu.

“Bless them. We will come to the citizens of Israel with our incredible achievements and with the amazing achievements we will soon bring, for the sake of the State of Israel,” Netanyahu added, referring to his campaign for the upcoming elections.

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