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 nathankazis@forward.com or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
