The decision to indict Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was made “with a heavy heart but also with a whole heart,’’ Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said Nov. 21 in informing Israelis that he has decided to charge Netanyahu with bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
Mandelblit knows his boss inside out. He was a confidant of the prime minister and a member of his intimate circle, serving for four years as Cabinet secretary. "Prime Minister Netanyahu is a privileged man. I have been privileged to work beside him and to see his many talents and abilities as prime minister … (but) law enforcement is not a choice. … It's not a matter of right or left, it's not a matter of politics," Mandelblit said. The attorney general emphasized that it was a difficult day for the Israeli public and for himself personally as he dropped the bombshell, which threatens now to sow unprecedented chaos throughout Israeli society.
Earlier articles here promised a “perfect storm” encompassing Israel’s political, diplomatic and security establishments. It finally arrived the evening of Nov. 21; Israel is now in the eye of the storm. Anything is possible and all the scenarios are on the table. In the past, Netanyahu rejected suggestions by his lawyers that he give up the fight and strive to reach a plea deal, which could have gotten him off the hook with a symbolic penalty in exchange for having the cases against him closed. But will Netanyahu give up? Will he make his final bow and leave the stage? It doesn’t look like it. The prime minister is the ultimate comeback kid. The man never gives up.
“Israel is facing a serious risk of civil war,” one senior official in the Blue and White party told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity after Mandelblit's announcement. “Netanyahu will not hesitate to sic his supporters on those institutions of government that represent the rule of law. He has no inhibitions. He has no brakes. The situation is more dangerous than ever.” In this situation, the keys are in the hands of the Likud party’s Knesset faction. Will they dare to raise their heads and challenge Netanyahu? Will enough Knesset members join Likud Knesset members Gideon Saar and Yoav Kisch, the only ones to announce that the time has come to hold a primary to determine who will lead the party? That question will be answered in the coming days.
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