Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday asked parliament for immunity, weeks after the embattled leader was indicted on a range of corruption charges.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is fighting for his political survival on two fronts — the corruption allegations and stiff opposition from a new centrist party.
The immunity request is expected to delay the start of court proceedings for months, as lawmakers are not due to vote on the matter until after March 2 elections.
The request is “in line with the law... [and] with the goal of continuing to serve you, for the future of Israel,” Netanyahu told reporters.
The prime minister’s spokesman, Ofer Golan, later confirmed that the request had been submitted to the speaker of the Knesset.
Netanyahu in November last year was charged by the attorney general with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate corruption cases.
The leader of the right-wing Likud party denies the allegations, accusing prosecutors and the media of a witch hunt.
Reacting to the announcement, Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz said that “Netanyahu knows that he is guilty.”
Gantz said his own party would do everything it can to “prevent immunity.”
“In Israel, nobody is above the law,” he said.
A sitting prime minister is only required to step down once convicted and after all avenues of appeal have been exhausted, but legal experts have asked the Israeli Supreme Court to rule on whether a prime minister can be tasked by the president with forming a new government while under indictment.
A panel of three judges on Tuesday began looking into the matter and said they would make a ruling at a later time, without giving a date.
Netanyahu has described the legal initiative as a trap.
“I don’t for a moment think that Israel’s Supreme Court will fall into this trap. In a democracy, only the people decide who will lead them, and nobody else,” Netanyahu wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
The allegations against the prime minister include receiving thousands of dollars of gifts and offering to change regulations in exchange for positive media coverage.
Despite his legal woes, Netanyahu remains popular within Likud and last week secured a landslide victory in a leadership challenge.
He saw off a bid to wrest control of the party by former Israeli minister of the interior Gideon Saar, winning with 72.5 percent of the ballots.
The result strengthened the prime minister’s position in a party he has dominated for 20 years, with Netanyahu calling it a “huge win.”
Saar launched his bid after the prime minister failed to cobble together a governing coalition in the wake of two general elections last — in April and September.
Saar said his challenge was “not because of the Likud’s ideas”, but because a failure to change leadership would bring the risk of a left-wing government.
Likud and the Blue and White were deadlocked in the elections, necessitating a third national poll this year.
Netanyahu has vowed to win the March general election, although early opinion polls indicate it could result in yet another stalemate.
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