The potential plea deal being touted for the past couple of weeks – which would have seen former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu avoid prison time but prevent him from remaining in politics for the next seven years – was apparently too much for him to stomach.
Netanyahu and his family are either so sure that he will be acquitted of all charges for which he is standing trial or convinced that Israel will not be able to survive without his leadership skills that they are willing to endure years of a laborious trial that most legal experts believe will end in a conviction.
The plea deal that had apparently been formulated would have seen both sides declare a victory of sorts. Netanyahu would have walked away a free man, with the future open to cement his legacy as a statesman and fierce defender of Israel. And the state would have placed the moral turpitude status on him, an admission that he in essence was guilty of legal infractions.
But Netanyahu is still apparently unable to think rationally when it comes to his trial and the sense that he is a victim of persecution – just like while he was prime minister. His video message Monday night about the outpouring of support that has engulfed him since the news broke about the potential plea deal ignores the support the deal was met with across the Left/Right canyon.
The plea deal would have enabled the country to move past the trauma of having a former prime minister on trial and of that individual continuing to be a divisive figure in national politics. It would also have spared the country the humiliation of watching yet another Israeli leader possibly arriving at the gates of a prison to begin his sentence.
But all signs point to the deal being dead – whether due to ego, pride or stubbornness.
Netanyahu has decided to drag the trial on – and in the process, he’s going to drag us along with it. It’s a wasted opportunity to end this saga once and for all and return to the vital issues the country faces.