AG sees no impediment to Netanyahu serving as PM

In his reply to petitions for declaring Binyamin Netanyahu unfit to serve as prime minister, Attorney General Avihai Mandelblitt gave the High Court as his opinion that there is no legal bar to Netanyahu forming or heading a government. A bench of 11 judges led by Chief Justice Esther Hayut as assigned two days next Sunday and Monday to hearing the petitions, which seek to bar Netanyahu from the premiership on the grounds of the three criminal indictments pending against him. Mandleblitt, who brought those indictments, maintains there are previous rulings against ministers serving under criminal indictment, but no precedents for barring a prime minister. He goes on to maintain that despite certain difficulties the coalition agreement signed by Netanyahu with Kahol Lavan leader Benny Gantz should stand.