Israel’s Labor party and government accountability organizations are expected to file petitions with the country’s High Court of Justice in a bid to oust Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from office. The initiative comes after the attorney-general announced last Thursday that he would indict Netanyahu in three separate corruption cases. While Israeli law technically allows a prime minister to remain in power until convicted and exhausting all appeals, no court has ever debated the matter, as Netanyahu is Israel’s first-ever sitting leader to face criminal charges. In a statement, Labor contended that it was time for Netanyahu’s Likud party to “have mercy on Israel” and ditch the prime minister in order to potentially avoid a third national election in less than a year. In this respect, Netanyahu rival Gideon Sa’ar has called on the Likud Central Committee to set a leadership primary date, claiming he would be able to form a coalition as party chief. By contrast, many of Netanyahu’s closest party allies have come to his defense, as have members of other right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties. Parliamentarians are currently in a three-week period in which any of them can attempt to garner the support of 61 of their peers in order to create a majority government. Meanwhile, the centrist Blue and White alliance of parties is urging the attorney-general to order Netanyahu to relinquish his four other ministerial posts – the health, agriculture, social affairs and diaspora affairs portfolios. Over the weekend, Netanyahu released a video saying there was “no question” he would accept any court decisions while reiterating his belief that police and state prosecutors were attempting a “coup” to overthrow him, saying the “investigators should be the ones investigated.”
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