Netanyahu suddenly facing effective opposition
The possibility of lifting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's immunity after the Knesset was dissolved is exactly the sort of move that an effective opposition is expected to promote.
The fight being waged over the past few days to have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s immunity removed even before the election on March 2 is the most effective opposition effort seen in the Knesset in years.
On Jan. 12, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein will have to decide whether he will allow the formation of a new Knesset House Committee to discuss Netanyahu’s immunity. The Blue and White party has already threatened that if he vetoes the demand of 65 Knesset members to form the committee, they will take steps to replace him. This extremely aggressive tactic signals that the Blue and White party is starting to use the same methods against Netanyahu that he himself would have no qualms using to get what he wants. Will they go all the way with their threat? There is no way of knowing. What is clear now, however, is that there are finally people in the Blue and White party who understand the role of an opposition and are willing to take shrewd advantage of existing parliamentary and legal procedures. All of this places Netanyahu and the Likud party on the defensive.
When Netanyahu submitted his request for immunity Jan. 1, he acted as if he had no choice and was compelled to do so — and he did it on the very last day that the law allowed him to use this right. Had he not done so, his immunity would have been lifted automatically, which would have meant that his trial could commence. This request for immunity posed a crisis for Netanyahu, because it presented him as someone who was afraid of facing trial. Furthermore, just a few months ago, he denied that he would ever do that. Then, one day after he made his request, he could sigh in relief. Polls show that he survived the event. Support for him did not drop, and the Likud did not suffer as a result of it.
As it turns out, this feeling of relief was premature. Netanyahu had a surprise waiting for him right behind the next door. The Blue and White party announced that if Netanyahu wants immunity, they will take steps immediately to form an impromptu House Committee to discuss his request. What this would mean is that Netanyahu could lose his immunity even before the election. Nevertheless, Netanyahu was not too upset. He assumed that the Blue and White party’s initiative would fall apart, because forming a Knesset committee during an election campaign is such an exceptional move. But there was another surprise waiting for him. The Knesset’s legal adviser, Attorney Eyal Yinon, ruled Jan. 5 that there is nothing to prevent the creation of a new committee right now.
