{"id":3117,"date":"2020-01-02T13:46:52","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T17:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=3117"},"modified":"2020-01-02T13:46:52","modified_gmt":"2020-01-02T17:46:52","slug":"chutzpah-on-steroids-no-one-cons-israel-like-bibi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=3117","title":{"rendered":"CHUTZPAH ON STEROIDS: No one CONS Israel like Bibi"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Benjamin Netanyahu asks for immunity from prosecution<\/h1>\n<p><!--more-->BBC<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"400\" height=\"500\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/av\/embed\/p0727dps\/50968109\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body__introduction\"><strong>The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has decided to seek parliamentary immunity from prosecution over corruption charges.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The move would likely delay a trial until after fresh elections next March.<\/p>\n<p>In November, the prime minister was charged by the attorney general with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Netanyahu, who denies wrongdoing, would need the support of more than half of MPs for immunity to be granted.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">Why did he ask for immunity?<\/h2>\n<p>Mr Netanyahu &#8211; who is the country&#8217;s longest serving leader &#8211; is alleged to have accepted gifts from wealthy businessmen and dispensed favours to try to get more positive press coverage.<\/p>\n<p>He made the request for immunity in a televised speech just four hours before the deadline for an application was to expire.<\/p>\n<p>He said it &#8220;would be in line with the law&#8230; with the goal of continuing to serve you, for the future of Israel&#8221;.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a class=\"story-body__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-middle-east-18008697\">Benjamin Netanyahu: Commando turned PM<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a class=\"story-body__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-middle-east-47409739\">Netanyahu: What are the allegations?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In March, he faces a third national election within a year.<\/p>\n<p>A trial cannot begin once an immunity request is made and the Israeli parliament, the Knesset &#8211; which has been dissolved ahead of fresh elections &#8211; is unlikely to rule on the request before then.<\/p>\n<p>Under Israeli law,\u00a0<a class=\"story-body__link-external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/netanyahu-announces-he-is-asking-knesset-for-immunity-from-prosecution\/\">members of the Knesset do not receive automatic immunity from prosecution<\/a>, but can request it when relevant.<\/p>\n<p>A sitting prime minister in Israel is only required to step down once convicted.<\/p>\n<p>Previous elections held in April and September 2019 saw Mr Netanyahu&#8217;s right-wing Likud party deadlocked with the centrist Blue and White &#8211; with neither able to form a government.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Netanyahu&#8217;s legal problems were a big obstacle to negotiations. He has always insisted the charges are a politically motivated &#8220;witch-hunt&#8221; against him.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image__img js-image-replace\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/7E0A\/production\/_108966223_israel_hemi_25sept-nc.png\" alt=\"Final results from Israeli election 09\/19\" width=\"2666\" height=\"2083\" data-highest-encountered-width=\"624\" \/><\/span><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">What has the reaction been?<\/h2>\n<p>Political leaders in Israel have reacted angrily to the decision.<\/p>\n<p>Netanyahu&#8217;s rival for the premiership, Benny Gantz, vowed that his Blue and White party would do everything it could to prevent immunity.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I never imagined that we would see the day that the prime minister of Israel would avoid standing before the law and the justice system,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu, announced on Wednesday that his party would vote against the immunity request.<\/p>\n<p>The Knesset Speaker, Yuli Edelstein, who is a member of Netanyahu&#8217;s Likud party, said he would hold talks on the matter next week.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-middle-east-50968109\">https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-middle-east-50968109<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Benjamin Netanyahu asks for immunity from prosecution<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}