With clock ticking, Netanyahu still undecided on plea bargain
If former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to a plea bargain that would include a moral turpitude conviction, he would be banned from Israeli politics for seven years.
Has former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resigned himself to the end of his political career? Do the secret contacts he has been conducting with the prosecution on a plea deal that would see him admitting to criminal charges of fraud and breach of trust signal the end of the Netanyahu era?
As these lines are written, there is no clear answer to these questions. Netanyahu is zig-zagging and deliberating while the prosecution is hesitant to believe the sincerity of his intentions. Netanyahu, his wife Sara and two sons Yair and Avner spent hours on Jan. 16 at the home of his lead attorney Boaz Ben-Tzur in the suburban Tel Aviv town of Ramat Gan discussing the pros and cons of a deal that would shut down his corruption trial with an admission to fraud and breach of trust in return for which the prosecution would drop the bribery charge.
At the end of the session, during which cameras filmed the family walking back and forth inside the house through the uncurtained windows, word was leaked to reporters that Netanyahu had given a “green light” for the prosecution’s demand — that he would accept a conviction of “moral turpitude” for his crimes, legally preventing him from holding or running for office for seven years. Reports on the outcome of the meeting varied, with some confirming Netanyahu’s serious intentions while others expressed doubt.
This behavior is classic Netanyahu. He is trying to treat the prosecution how he did over the years US Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and quite a few other unfortunate figures with whom he dealt. However, unlike those previous dealings, this time Netanyahu is no longer prime minister. As a defendant in a criminal trial, he is not setting the pace of developments but being dragged along. He risks the final window of opportunity slamming in his face and leading him to a barred cell.
