An MP in Israel has proposed a new law that would shield the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, from any future criminal investigation while in office.
The law, proposed by the Likud MP David Amsalem, the Knesset’s interior committee chairman, was greeted with an outcry from opposition MPs.
Last month the Israeli attorney general launched a preliminary inquiry into “matters relating to Netanyahu”, without saying what those matters were. The Israeli prime minister, who has previously faced scrutiny on his household spending, denies any wrongdoing.
Amsalem originally suggested that the law should only cover minor offences carrying a prison sentence up to six months, but later proposed that more serious crimes should also included.
“I have asked my legal adviser to redraft the bill so that it will also apply to all offences falling under the rubric of public morality, including bribe-taking,” Amsalem said.
“For the past 30 years, there hasn’t been a single prime minister who wasn’t busy with investigations,” Amsalem wrote on his Facebook page explaining his reasoning. “The prime minister holds the most important job in Israel. He must make fateful decisions that impact the entire public ... [and] cannot be preoccupied by investigations practically every day.”
Amsalem added that the timing of his proposal was unconnected to current criminal allegations against Netanyahu.
“The timing of the bill is irrelevant. In our country at any given moment a covert investigation is going on against a prime minister. I suggest that whoever raises this question, let me know when there is a window of time when there is no investigation happening and I will be happy to submit the bill then, so no one will try to find other motives or interests behind it.”
The bill cannot be considered until October when the Israeli parliament convenes. A Likud party spokesman said it had not been coordinated with Netanyahu’s office.
Opposition MPs said no citizen should be above the law and pointed out that investigations into the Israeli prime minister required permission from the country’s attorney general in any case, a move designed to prevent tendentious inquiries.
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