Israel’s Supreme Court rejects petition to disqualify Netanyahu

The group already promised to resubmit the petition after the official vote count was published.

By World Israel News Staff

On Wednesday, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal by an Israeli NGO to disqualify Benjamin Netanyahu from serving as prime minister.

“This appeal deals with rejection outright, and it comes even before the final results of the elections are announced,” the Supreme Court said, according to Arutz 7.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel filed the petition on Tuesday.

It was one day after Israel’s election, in which the Likud and the right-wing made a strong showing.

“A person accused of criminal charges, in particular serious charges such as bribery, fraud and breach of trust, cannot be seen as fit to take upon himself the role of forming a government,” the group wrote in the petition.

In its appeal, the group requested that the court temporarily halt  the process by which Knesset members support a candidate for prime minister until the legal ramifications could be examined in detail.

In the normal course of events, Knesset members meet with Israel’s president and say who they’ll back to be prime minister. The president then hands the right to form a government to the candidate with the most votes.

The Movement for Quality of Government in Israel says it will resubmit its appeal after the final elections results are tallied, likely March 10.

“Every intelligent person understands that a person who has a box of insects on his shoulders cannot serve as prime minister,” the movement said in a statement.

“The Movement for Quality of Government respects the Supreme Court and bows its head before its decision. And therefore we will submit our apeal again, immediately following the publication of the final results.”

The group had petitioned the Supreme Court in early January with the same request.

The High Court declared at the time that it would not rule on the issue before the election, stating that “at this time the petition is theoretical and premature.”

The basis for the court’s rejection on Wednesday was similar, basing it on the petition’s timing, not its contents, leaving open the possibility that it may decide in future to rule on it.