JERUSALEM (NYTIMES) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was charged on Thursday (Nov 21) with bribery and breach of trust in a series of corruption cases that threaten his political future and present the country with an unprecedented legal fight.
Netanyahu, now the country's longest-serving prime minister, also holds the dubious record of being its first to be indicted while in office. He has denied the allegations against him.
Israel had already been struggling to choose a new leader who could form a new government after two inconclusive elections this year. Netanyahu's indictment adds further uncertainty to that chaotic problem.
Here are some possibilities of what could happen:
AN INDICTED LEADER IN OFFICE FOR YEARS
Under current Israeli law, Netanyahu can remain under indictment and even stand trial while in office.
Lawmakers can vote to oust him only if he's convicted in a final verdict, once the appeals process has been exhausted. That could take years.
INTERVENTION FROM THE SUPREME COURT
Watchdog groups and critics of the prime minister have been preparing to petition Israel's Supreme Court to challenge Netanyahu's continued tenure under indictment.
That means challenging clauses in Israel's basic law on government, which has a constitutional status.
In two cases in the 1990s, the Supreme Court ruled that an ordinary minister and a deputy minister must be fired immediately upon being charged.
But ministers can easily be replaced. If a prime minister resigns, the entire government automatically falls, adding to the significance of any decision by the court.
A REQUEST FOR IMMUNITY
Like any lawmaker, Netanyahu could ask for parliamentary immunity from prosecution. That can be granted by a house committee and then by a vote in Parliament.
After two inconclusive elections and months of political paralysis in Israel, the house committee is currently not functioning - and may not resume work for months, until another election is held and a government formed. This may delay the entire judicial process.
REVOLT IN THE PRIME MINISTER'S PARTY
Rebel members of Netanyahu's conservative Likud party could demand a primary to try to elect a new leader. If Netanyahu, who has denied all wrongdoing, survives as party leader, he could still run in a national ballot for another term.
If he were to lose a primary in the party, he would no longer be its candidate for another term as prime minister.
A THIRD ELECTION
If Israel were to hold another election and Netanyahu were to win despite the charges, Reuven Rivlin, the country's president, would then have to decide if it were appropriate to task him - as a lawmaker seeking another term as prime minister, but not yet a prime minister - with forming a government.
