The audience will be brief, formal, but only the photograph counts. It will be devastating. On March 17, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have to go to the Jerusalem district court, located about 20 minutes by car from his residence: he will hear his indictment read there on the first day of his trial for corruption, fraud and breach of trust.
This appearance is scheduled for two weeks after the legislative elections on March 2, the third since April 2019. However, it should have little effect on the electoral campaign, which has not stopped since the last election in September. The speeding up of the judicial process has helped wipe out the majority of Mr. Netanyahu. But his opposition is too divided: he remains an essential partner of any coalition of government. His performance in Washington at the end of January, when Donald Trump's "vision" for an Israeli-Palestinian "peace" was unveiled, did not advance him in the polls.
Few ways to drag
If Mr. Nétanyahou comes first, the president, Reuven Rivlin, can entrust him with the task of leading negotiations between parties. His trial, however, promises to reduce his room for maneuver. On the defendants' bench, the Prime Minister will have to admit his guilt or dismiss one by one each charge brought against him, in three separate cases. He will face three judges, the first of whom, Rivka Friedman-Feldman, has already participated in the conviction of his predecessor, Ehoud Olmert, for acts of corruption.
Netanyahu, who faces ten years in prison, failed in January to gain parliamentary immunity. The opening of his trial now subjects him to the judicial calendar: he has few means to delay the proceedings. "Mr. Netanyahu may have to travel abroad, he may fall ill … but his ability to extend the deadline will now be extremely limited," notes Gad Barzilai, former dean of Haifa law school.
During this flawed trial, the attorney general and the lawyers will first examine a file formed after four years of investigation. More than 300 witnesses are expected to testify, and the prosecutor will decide when Mr. Netanyahu will be called, probably not before May.
Likud’s deputies keep reminding us that the law does not prohibit Mr. Netanyahu from continuing to lead the government until a possible final conviction on appeal to the Supreme Court, which can take several years. For their part, his ultra-Orthodox and ultra-nationalist and Messianic right allies last week renewed their oath of allegiance to the Prime Minister.
