State Prosecutor makes it clear: The judicial system not planning to fold

Shai Nitzan said to Netanayahu that there is no passage of overcoming this and no immunity law would allow him to escape from the law.

By AVISHAI GRINZAIG/MAARIV
Shai Nitzan 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse)
Shai Nitzan 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse)
The State Prosecutor has not (yet) overthrown an acting prime minister, but has already knocked down the Knesset.
According to senior legal sources, as well as a source close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many others in the political system, the hasty decision to dissolve the 20st Knesset came after a standard speech by Shai Nitzan.
In his speech, Nitzan dropped a bomb elegantly and seemingly unintentionally: The State Prosecutor's Office has already formulated its reasoned position in the three Netanyahu cases, and the decision is already in the hands of Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit. Netanyahu was caught unprepared, the announcement was shocking.
He rushed to disperse the Knesset out of a desire to gain the public's trust before Mandelblit would achieve it.
Today, Shai Nitzan dropped another bomb. This time it was a hydrogen bomb.
This time the state prosecutor did not say this as a matter of fact, but he looked directly at the camera and thrust a crushing sentence straight at the Prime Minister's Office.
Because of the importance of these words, I will quote precisely: "Our duty is one - one law for all, one rule of law for all, from the leaders of the country to the last of the citizens ... There will be no discrimination between the rich and the weak. We do not know what laws will be enacted here in the future, but I know that no law can prevent justice and truth from winning. "
Nitzan said to Netanyahu that there is no way of overcoming this and no immunity law would allow him to escape from the law. "Whatever law you want, it will not help you," he said. "If we are convinced in the hearing that we have to file an indictment, you will be prosecuted for your actions despite legislation."
Before Nitzan, Supreme Court President Esther Hayut spoke and heavily criticized Netanyahu, who she said has decided to turn his back against the judicial system.
Hayut made her remarks during the ceremony of her declaration of loyalty to the Supreme Court. "He praised the independent judiciary and dialogue, and now he wants to trample the powers of the court."
If Netanyahu hoped that the Supreme Court would save him, after defending it for more than a decade and preventing any reform, today he received a negative answer.
Mandelblit also took a stance on Netanyahu's attempt to pass an immunity law for himself. He referred to lawmakers who claimed that immunity was needed to prevent a situation in which the reform of the justice system would result in a case against Netanyahu, calling it nonsense.
If Netanyahu listened to the speeches this morning, I would suggest that he pay his lawyers as soon as possible and address the merits of the suspicions against him, because from the point of view of the legal system, he has no escape route except through legal evidence.
The gathering made clear to Netanyahu that the war is not about the make-up of the coalition, but first and foremost about his personal freedom.
Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Lieberman, who has certainly heard this, understands that the last thing that Netanyahu can afford now is an election campaign, which will probably help him in the current political crisis.
Translated by Jerusalem Post Staff