Protest group petitions High Court to disqualify Netanyahu due to conflict of interest

A petition filed with the High Court of Justice from the Fortress of Democracy group called on the court to disqualify Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from serving as premier because he violated his conflict of interest agreement.

The petition was filed by 39 senior figures from various fields, including Israel Defense Forces former Chief- of-Staff Dan Halutz.

On Thursday afternoon, it was announced that the High Court agreed to hear the petition.

The current petition is related to Netanyahu’s decision to become involved in the judicial reforms in March, despite being warned by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara that he could not do so without violating the terms of his signed conflict-of-interest agreement.

A previous, similar petition to the High Court was dismissed without being heard because it was considered “a far-reaching declaratory order by all accounts.” At that time, the court did not find Netanyahu to be in contempt of court, despite agreeing with the attorney general’s position. The petitioners were subsequently fined 5,000 ILS (about $1,400) in expenses.

Israeli Attorney Daphna Holtz Lechner, who filed the petition on behalf of the Fortress of Democracy, claims Netanyahu was required to step down from his role as prime minister after violating his signed agreement.

“We express great satisfaction with the fact that the Supreme Court saw fit to consider the weighty question of whether, in light of the serious violations committed by Netanyahu by not complying with the prohibitions imposed on him, due to the severe and powerful conflict of interest in which he finds himself as a defendant of serious offenses involving disgrace, he was required to order the disqualification of his term as prime minister," Lechner said. "We believe that this is the necessary result, since, otherwise, there is no significance in prohibiting an elected official from having a conflict of interest in his position.”

To date, there has been no hearing in the High Court of Justice because Netanyahu violated the conflict-of-interest arrangement, however, the High Court reportedly confirmed it would hear the petition as soon as possible.