Against the backdrop of an increasingly universal belief that an indictment or indictments against Prime Minister Netanyahu will be issued before the April 9 general election, Netanyahu has stated publicly that he will not be vacating his office before the hearing process is complete. In particular, the PM was addressing the possibility that only the government’s side of the story would be told – read made public – before the election. Speaking in Brazil, Netanyahu asserted that would amount to a “blow to democracy” and said he’s not leaving office before his side is told. Several corruption cases are pending against Netanyahu and the police have recommended to the prosecutors to indict. Meanwhile, the early hours of the election frenzy are providing Israelis with comic relief and plenty to talk about. The Israeli parliamentary system has no shortage of parties – 10 entities in the current government, with coalitions and co-operation agreements adding several more – all of which compete for 120 seats in the single-house legislature. The prime minister is the head of the party that wins the most seats IF the president believes he/she has the best chance to form a coalition of 61 or more seats and the chosen party successfully does so. But while some parties opt for democratic practices in all aspects of its operations, a number of parties see all major decisions made by a single figure with little or no oversight; while some fall in-between. On Sunday, the head of the venerable Labor Party –– announced during a live broadcast of the proceedings of Labor and its partner in the so-called ‘Zionist Union’ — an amalgam of one of the nation’s grand old parties that has fallen on hard times in recent years and the marginal, personality-driven ‘Hatnua’ party of Tzipi Livni – that he is dumping Livni (speculation being to make way for the addition of a new party headed by former army chief-of-staff Benny Gantz that is already showing strength in polling). Coming as an obvious shock Livni, the amusement factor grew when after a period of consideration, the only retort Livni (whom one of Israel’s leading writers termed “political kryptonite”) was able to come up with was to play the gender card and accuse Labor head Avi Gabbay of ‘chauvinism’ despite the obvious: a Gantz-for-Livni swap could translate into a net gain of 7 to 9 seats for Labor. In Kulanu, another personality-party – this one run by finance minister Moshe Kahlon — among four senior bail-outs was a former senior army officer who in less than 24-hours went from being Construction and Housing Minister as a Kulanu Party member to being Immigration and Absorption Minister while representing the Likud Party.
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