A new bill introduced Tuesday seeks to prevent authorities from launching frivolous investigations into the prime minister's conduct. The proposal, presented by Knesset Internal Affairs Committee Chairman MK David Amsalem (Likud), states that "the prime minister is required to make fateful decisions on a daily basis, some of them political, some pertaining to security, to the economy and other social issues, and all of them affect the general public. He cannot be tied up by such investigations nearly every day." According to Amsalem, "Over the past 30 years, there hasn't been one prime minister that has not found himself under investigation.
My bill suggests that no criminal investigation be launched against a prime minister for any offense carrying less than a six-month [prison] sentence. Naturally, prime ministers have to be held accountable for such actions as well, so the bill also suggests that the statute of limitations exclude any such offense, so that once a prime minister's term comes to an end, an investigation could be launched." Amsalem denied the bill has anything to do with the current covert police probe into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying, "That's an irrelevant question. In this country, a prime minister can find himself under a covert or overt police investigation at any given moment." Zionist Union MK Nachman Shai blasted the bill, saying Amsalem was "taking the delusional attempts by other coalition members to manipulate the rule of law in Israel a step further. No one in Israel is above the law, not this prime minister, not his predecessors and not his successors. If Amsalem wants the prime minister to have time to make the decisions affecting the public, he is welcome to promote a bill preventing the prime minister from holding four additional portfolios." Shai was referring to the fact that aside from being prime minister, Netanyahu currently holds the foreign affairs, communications, economy, and regional cooperation portfolios.
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MK floats bill banning frivolous legal probes into PM's conduct
"The prime minister is required to make fateful decisions on a daily basis. ... He cannot be tied up by such investigations every day," says Likud MK David Amsalem • Opposition MK slams bill as "delusional attempt" to manipulate the rule of law.