Extremist Israeli Party Offers Bibi A Deal: Immunity For Annexing Settlements
Benjamin Netanyahu Image by Getty Images
By Josh Nathan-Kazis April 23, 2019
A far-right Israeli party that includes avowed followers of the racist rabbi Meir Kahane is offering to help Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secure immunity from prosecution.
In return for immunity, according to a report in the Times of Israel, the Union of Right-Wing Parties want the annexation of all Jewish settlements in the West Bank. And that’s not all: They also want a new law that will allow the Knesset to overrule Israel’s High Court; control of multiple ministries; and the creation of a committee to legalize illegal settlements, among other demands favorable to the settlement project.
Israel’s Attorney General has said that he plans to indict Netanyahu on corruption charges, but has yet to do so.
The demands come as the party prepares to open negotiations with Netanyahu, who is building a coalition after Knesset elections earlier this month. The Union of Right-Wing Parties consists of multiple far-right parties, including the Kahanist party Otzma Yehudit. They hold five seats in the 120-member Knesset, and it will be very difficult for Netanyahu to form a majority without them.
Center-left politicians decried the demands. “The vision of the nightmare government is coming true,” Blue and White party Knesset member Ofer Shelah told the Times of Israel. “Netanyahu will give — to [URWP leader] Smotrich — and take — immunity for himself.”
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
