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Article: Police recommend indicting Netanyahu Prime minister's government in peril in influence-trading scandal; Netanyahu's options Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's options under Israeli electoral law if he is indicted, according to Professor Uriel Reichman, former dean of the law faculty at Tel Aviv University. Reichman was a key lobbyist and author of the new electoral law: MUST NETANYAHU STEP DOWN? No. Under Israel's law on the direct election of the prime minister, there is no explicit requirement that the prime minister step down if indicted or even convicted. CAN THE PRIME MINISTER BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE? Yes, in three ways: By a majority of 61 out of 120 Knesset members, in which case new elections are held within 60 days for both prime minister and parliament meaning the lawmakers must be prepared to sacrifice their own positions as well as the prime minister's. By a special majority of 80 out of 120 members, in which case the Knesset serves out its full four-year term and only elections for a new prime minister are held. If a prime minister has been convicted of a crime that "carries with it disgrace" such as fraud and breach of trust, the infractions attributed to Netanyahu he can be impeached without dissolving the Knesset by a simple majority of 61. WHAT IF NETANYAHU QUITS? If Netanyahu resigns, elections will be held within 60 days for the prime minister only; the Knesset would serve out its term, through 2000.
- Article from:
- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI)
- Article date:
- April 17, 1997
CopyrightCopyright 1997 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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In a move that could bring down the Israeli government and change
the direction of the peace process, police on Wednesday recommended
indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for breach of trust in
an influence-trading scandal.
Although scandals in Israel are not infrequent, the recommendation
police handed to state attorney Edna Arbel was the harshest ever
against an Israeli government.
Labor Party leader Shimon Peres, who lost elections to Netanyahu
last May, urged the prime minister to suspend himself from office
and call new elections. "This is unprecedented," he said of the
police recommendation.
Netanyahu did not react to the revelations, meeting instead with
advisers and political ...