update https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/02/police-recommend-indicting-benjamin-netanyahu-on-bribery-charges
You may well be right. I really know nothing about politics is Israel. My interest is primarily related to that fact that we now have two (or more?) world leaders, allies, who are in a bit of legal hot water related to similar issues.
Why do smart people do such dumb thing? I just don’t get it. My guess he could have made a boatload of money without breaking the law. The prime minister before bibi also got himself into a lot of trouble with the law.
update. things have progressed poorly for bibi https://www.thedailybeast.com/israels-government-collapses-amid-corruption-charges-and-trumps-mideast-chaos
Well, maybe, but even if so he still gets to pass GO and collect $200: "Under Israeli law, Netanyahu is not required to step down if he is indicted. He is only required to step down if he is convicted and that conviction is upheld through the appeals process, which could take years."
I wish I knew more about the legal system in Israel. Heck, I wish I knew ANYTHING about it. What I think I know is that the criminal law is largely founded on the Common Law held over from the Mandate. I think that an accused is presumed to be innocent unless and until convicted at trial.
I assume it's an "innocent until proven guilty" situation but I also assume that you don't indict a sitting head of state unless you've got rock solid proof. I also assume that technically, the legal process can drag out for a long time but I also expect that his political power will diminish markedly as time goes on. At some point even your allies ask you to step aside so that work can be accomplished without the circus of distraction. I guess.
For what it may be worth, Bibi isn't a head of state. That would be president Rivlin. Bibi is the head of government and not entitled to any more immunity than any other member of the Knesset I dont think.
the next chapter https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/21/middleeast/benjamin-netanyahu-charges-israel-intl/index.html
Yeah, not so easy to dislodge the champion of the haredi parties. Bibi claims he offered to sit down with Gantz but Bibi had already signed an agreement with the two main haredi parties that no one but he would serve as PM thus eliminating any possibility of an agreement with Blue and White. Israeli politics is hardball with brass knuckles and always has been. But now there's no possibility of anyone forming a government so off to the polls for the third time! Makes me grateful that our Founders rejected the Westminster system in favor of a separately elected President whose term expires at a specific date and time. Heck, the original Westminster parliament may have a similar problem after the next UK general election. And in Canada, Trudeau has to try and govern without a majority at all. (Ottawa doesn't "do" formal coalitions.) Headache upon headache.
