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Will Netanyahu's survival campaign tear up Israeli society?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to delegitimize Israel’s judicial system, saying that only the judgment by the "people" matters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen following the signing of a deal with Greece and Cyprus to build the EastMed subsea pipeline to carry natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe, at the Zappeion Hall in Athens, Greece, January 2, 2020. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC2T7E9ZMP7A
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An election campaign is “a realm of uncertainty,” wrote three Supreme Court justices on Jan. 2. The judges dismissed a petition by opposition parties that sought to disqualify a Knesset member charged with grievous offenses, i.e., interim Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, from forming the country’s next government. The justices agreed with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who already declined to rule on the issue, saying it was theoretical given that elections would only take place on March 2. The justices, too, pointed out that a ruling would be premature given that no one can know who the elected lawmakers will recommend to President Reuven Rivlin as prime minister.

True, there is no certainty that Netanyahu would obtain a Knesset majority ensuring that Rivlin would task him with forming a government. The justices may assume (or hope?) that Netanyahu’s indictment on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust would limit his chances of receiving the presidential mandate to form a government. When Rivlin handed him the mandate after the April 2019 elections and again after the September voting, Netanyahu had not yet been indicted and was awaiting a hearing before the attorney general to lay out his case against indictment.

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