Israeli group asks court to punish Netanyahu over proposed legal plan; PM given a week to respond

A good governance group called Movement for Quality Government in Israel (MQG), on Sunday (March 26) asked the country’s Supreme Court to punish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his proposed judicial reform bills which have led to widespread protests across the country for weeks now. Subsequently, the Israeli PM was given a week to respond to the petition filed by the group, ruled the Israelihigh court on Sunday.

The Israeli PM has been accused of violating a conflict of interest agreement which was supposed to prevent him from interfering in the country’s judiciary as he is on trial for corruption. The group The Movement for Quality Government in Israel has reportedly been fiercely opposing the proposed overhaul and has now asked the country’s Supreme Court to act and force Netanyahu to obey the law.

The Jerusalem-based which was established almost three decades ago also filed a petition against the Israeli PM which contended that he is in contempt of court for breaking his conflict of interest agreement.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel has said that Netanyahu should be fined, imprisoned or sanctioned for this violation, as per media reports.“A prime minister who doesn’t obey the court and the provisions of the law is privileged and an anarchist,” said the head of the MQG, Eliad Shraga, as per media reports. He added, “The prime minister will be forced to bow his head before the law and comply with the provisions of the law.”

The High Court of Justice’s chief, Esther Hayut, following the petition hasalso asked Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Knesset (Israeli parliament) Speaker Amir Ohana to respond to these allegations by April 2.

A letter from the attorney general was sent to Netanyahuwarning that hisspeech on Thursday violated the conflict of interest agreement, said the good governance group. Notably, Netanyahu has been barred by the country’s attorney general from dealing with his government’s plan to overhaul the judiciary, in line with the agreement which has also been acknowledged by the country’s Supreme Court in a separate ruling.

On Thursday, the parliament passed a law which makes it difficult to remove a sitting PM. Subsequently, Netanyahu said he was unshackled by the attorney general’s deal and vowed to address the crisis and “mend the rift” in the nation. This prompted Baharav-Miara to send a letter to the Israeli PM that he was violating the conflict of interest agreement by doing so.

(With inputs from agencies)

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