Israel ratifies law restricting removal of prime ministers

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on March 19, 2023. Israel ratified a law on March 23, 2022 that limits the circumstances in which a prime minister can be removed, despite concerns raised by a government jurist that it may be meant to shield Benjamin Netanyahu from any fallout from his corruption trials. PHOTO AP JERUSALEM Israel ratified a law restricting the circumstances in which a prime minister can be removed, despite concerns raised by a government jurist that it may protect the incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu from any fallout from his corruption trials.

The amendment to the definition of incapacity of national leaders is among the measures taken by the religious-nationalist coalition that have tipped Israel into a crisis, with the opposition arguing that judicial independence is in danger.

The overhaul aims to bring back Supreme Court over-reach and restore balance among branches of government, according to the coalition.

The Knesset approved the bill under which prime ministers can be deemed unfit by a 61- to-47 vote and be forced to step aside if they or three-quarters of cabinet ministers declare them so on physical or psychological grounds.

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The stipulations included a quasi-constitutional basic law that provides the government with guidance in the event of a non-functioning prime minister, but it didn't have details on circumstances that could give rise to such situations.

The rule had left Netanyahu vulnerable to a possible claim of his incapacity by Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, if she perceived an attempt by him to halt his three court cases, according to the non-partisan Israel Democracy Institute.

IDI senior researcher Amir Fuchs said that the new law precludes this, and he had considered such a finding by Bararav-Miara to be an unlikely extreme case Netanyahu denies all charges against him, and has cast the trials as a politicised attempt to force him out of office.

Baharav-Miara, who was appointed by the former Israeli government last month, said last month that Netanyahu must stay out of his coalition's push for a judicial overhaul because of the conflict of interest arising from his trials.

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Gil Limon, Baharav-Miara's deputy, voiced misgivings about the incapacity bill during a Knesset review session on Tuesday.

A cluster of legislation elements that are troubling and are being advanced at great speed, according to an official transcript, Limon said.

They have the potential to serve the interests of a man regarding the outcomes of legal proceedings he is facing.