Former Prime Minister and current Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to finalize a plea bargain agreement with Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, which will most likely require Netanyahu to leave politics for at least seven years.
The pending agreement is literally a political earthquake in Israel, as Netanyahu has dominated the political landscape for the last 15 years. His exit, if it happens, will spark convulsions in the governing coalition, as well as a dynamic leadership race in Netanyahu’s Likud party.
Here to discuss the ramifications for the Israeli political scene and the relationship with the Biden administration, is David Rubin, former Mayor of Shiloh, Israel, and author of “Confronting Radicals: What America Can Learn from Israel”.
Q&A:
- Can you give us a bit more background? Why is this plea bargain deal with Netanyahu even being discussed? Netanyahu has been accused of bribery and fraud and his trial has been ongoing. With the results uncertain, both the prosecution and the defense are looking to strike a deal, which would greatly reduce the charges, while ensuring no jail time for Netanyahu. In exchange, he would, as an admission of guilt, have to leave politics for at least seven years, which would, in effect, end his political career.
- What are the chances of this plea bargain deal actually happening? According to most estimates, there is already an agreement in principle to go forward and the details need to be worked out and finalized before the end of the month.
- What will Israel without Netanyahu look like? If the agreement is finalized, two things will happen. One is for certain and the other is likely. For sure, there will be a leadership race in the Likud party, which is the biggest party in Israel, to see who will succeed Netanyahu as leader. That could take several months. Once that happens and a new Likud leader is elected, the heavy pressure will build on the more right-wing members of the current Left-Right unity coalition government to split off and bring down the coalition.
- Why would they want to do that? Most of the conservatives in the current governing coalition are only there because of their personal animosities with Netanyahu. Now that he may be out of the picture, the right-wingers and former Likud members may want to return to their natural homes in a right-wing coalition. If they break up the coalition, there would probably be a new election by the end of 2022.
- How would an election affect Israel’s relationship with the United States, and in particular with the Biden administration? When there is a stable government in Israel, Israel is strong and confident. The current government coalition of the Far Left, the moderate Right and anti-Israel Muslims is very unstable and doesn’t accurately reflect the Israeli political trends. Therefore, these new developments make it increasingly likely that Israel will have a stable right-of-center government after its next election. Biden and his advisors might not be happy about that, but then again, until the Netanyahu plea bargain is finalized, nothing has happened.
- You have written seven books, including “Confronting Radicals: What America Can Learn from Israel” and also “Trump and the Jews”. Where can our listeners (viewers) get more information? They can go to my website: www.DavidRubinIsrael.com
BIO: David Rubin, former Mayor of Shiloh Israel, is the author of seven books. His latest, Confronting Radicals: What America Can Learn from Israel. Rubin is the founder and president of Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund, established after he and his then three-year-old son were wounded in a terror attack.
Websites: www.DavidRubinIsrael.com (to find out more about David’s many books) or www.ShilohIsraelChildren.org (treating the victims of terror).
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