Unbearable hypocrisy

Yinon’s defenders say that he is weighing procedural matters, of the kind that are at the core of his job.

By JPOST EDITORIAL
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the media at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem (photo credit: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the media at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem
(photo credit: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS)
As we head toward the third election in less than one year, it seems like politics keep plunging the electorate deeper into despair, as we watch the people meant to represent us deal in ugly cynicism and insult voters’ intelligence. It is no wonder that a Haifa University poll showed a sharp drop in the public’s trust in the Knesset in the last year; 63% expressed little or very little trust in the Knesset in 2019, as opposed to 56% in 2018.
The latest chapter in this seemingly never-ending election saga is the dispute over whether the Knesset should be able to hold a vote on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for immunity from prosecution on the corruption charges for which Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit seeks to indict him.
The Knesset does not have regularly-functioning committees during an election recess. By law, the process of voting on an MK’s immunity must begin in the Knesset House Committee, which has not really existed in over a year. Likud MK Haim Katz requested immunity from being charged with fraud and breach of trust last summer, and no one in the Knesset lifted a finger to debate his future. This has delayed his trial indefinitely.
But Netanyahu’s case is much more politically significant, so Blue and White and the rest of the opposition to the prime minister care much more about whether he will be put on trial now or at a later date, than they do about Likud’s former welfare minister.
Justice ought to be blind, but that is apparently too much to expect from the Knesset, even when it involves legislators acting in a semi-judicial capacity, as required during the immunity process. Thus, Netanyahu is being treated differently from Katz.
With Blue and White pushing for an unprecedented immunity vote ahead of an election, the spotlight is on Knesset Legal Adviser Eyal Yinon, who had to determine whether or not the House Committee can be formed and whether Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein has veto power over the decision.
Once Yinon said there is nothing stopping the House Committee from being formed, Justice Minister Amir Ohana and other Likud MKs suddenly remembered that he is married to one of the prosecutors on Netanyahu’s case. MK Miki Zohar, a close Netanyahu ally, petitioned the High Court on Sunday to block Yinon from making a ruling.
Yinon’s defenders say that he is weighing procedural matters, of the kind that are at the core of his job, and he has no bearing on whether the committee will decide to grant Netanyahu immunity or not.
This might be true, but it is also a slightly naive take on the situation. If there is a House Committee between now and the March 2 election, it will deny Netanyahu immunity. Yinon should have recused himself from this decision to ensure that it is not marred in any way.
But this doesn’t excuse the ugly personal attacks coming from Likud. Yinon is not a newlywed, yet no one thought to raise the matter of his wife until he made a decision viewed as harmful to Netanyahu. Plus, it was only last summer when Zohar wrote an effusive, praise-filled letter attesting to Yinon’s professionalism when the legal adviser wanted an increase in his pension – which was authorized – and then petitioned the High Court against him on Sunday decrying his apparent conflict of interest.
As bad as the personal attacks are, it is Zohar’s petition to the High Court that exposes the naked hypocrisy of his stance. It is the Right, including many in Likud, that has long called for a clear separation of powers and protested the Supreme Court’s intervention in the Knesset’s affairs. They were right to do so; an independent legislative branch is essential to a functioning democracy. Now, the Likud shows that they are willing to sacrifice their ideals on the altar of Netanyahu’s immunity.
No one is behaving well here. MKs on all sides would do well to walk a straighter path before the public’s distrust in them continues to rise to more dangerous levels.