Coalition lawmakers push to repeal law used in Netanyahu’s corruption trial

Israel’s government set to move forward with bill that would scrap law broadly defining fraud and breach of trust, which served as the basis for corruption charges against Prime Minister Netanyahu.

By World Israel News Staff

The Knesset will soon take up proposed legislation that would, if passed, repeal the law under which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was charged in his ongoing corruption trial – potentially leading to the dismissal of the indictments.

On Monday, the coalition government announced that lawmakers have drafted a bill that would scrap the law defining “fraud and breach of trust” as a criminal offense, replacing it with a more narrowly and precisely worded definition.

The proposed bill is expected to be discussed by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation in the coming days. If it wins the committee’s backing, it would secure fast-tracking through the Knesset, significantly increasing the odds it is passed into law.

Supporters argue the current criminal offense’s definition is overly vague, inconsistently applied, and incompatible with basic legal principles, while critics warn the move is designed to shield Netanyahu and weaken safeguards against corruption.

The offense of fraud and breach of trust is so broadly defined that it “seriously violates the principle of legality,” sponsors of the bill have argued, referring to the foundational rule that criminal prohibitions must be clearly defined in advance.

According to the bill’s proponents, Israel’s legal system already contains sufficient, well-defined corruption offenses, making the contested charge unnecessary and dangerous.

Opposition lawmakers, however, argued that the bill was little more than an attempt to prevent the judiciary from ruling on Netanyahu’s corruption indictments.

Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition, vowed that his party would lead efforts to crush the bill “in the Knesset, in the streets, and in the courts.”

“This is not a reform; it is a full-fledged coup that will turn Israel into a failed and backward third-world state,” Lapid said.

“The coalition has declared war on democratic and advanced Israel, and we will mobilize and fight to protect it.”

If the bill is passed, the change to Israel’s legal code would not necessarily lead to the automatic dismissal of charges against the prime minister, with the precise wording of the final draft crucial to determining whether the new definition would be applied retroactively.