Will Netanyahu have the luck of the Irish during St. Patrick's Day trial?

How will his trial date impact the election?

By GIL HOFFMAN
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Hours before the March 17 date for the opening of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial was announced, Netanyahu was asked on Army Radio how he could handle running the country as a defendant.
He downplayed the question, saying that he currently works 17 hours a day, so he would instead work 16. He then used the question to compare his accomplishments to those of his rivals.
But now that the trial has a date, it is much more real and can no longer be made light of. Two weeks after the election, the prime minister will be in a court room, listening to the reading of his charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
So how will this affect the March 2 election?
All current evidence would imply not at all. All prior stages of his indictment did not affect polls in any way.
The public, which once bristled when police recommended indicting then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, has been unmoved as Netanyahu’s cases have advanced far beyond that stage in the legal process.
They have gotten used to having a prime minister under a cloud. Just like for people who live where it rains all the time, it has become a normal part of life.
Perhaps if the scene of Netanyahu on trial would have taken place two weeks before the election and not two weeks after, it could have influenced more voters. Perhaps not.
The good news for Blue and White leader Benny Gantz is that Netanyahu’s criminal cases are back in the news for the first time in three weeks. He will need to find a way to keep it in the headlines to get an advantage on March 2.
Blue and White’s campaign ads depict a red telephone ringing for Netanyahu and him not available to answer it because of his trial.
If Gantz gets the first chance to build a coalition, he could use the trial to scare off the parties in Netanyahu’s political bloc and try to woo them to his government.
But Netanyahu could also use the opening of the trial to his advantage, because it will last only one day and continue only months later. He could use that opening to show potential coalition partners that the trial is not as time consuming as expected.
The trial falls on St. Patrick’s Day, a day that celebrates the luck of the Irish. Whether Netanyahu will have their luck – we will soon find out.