Finance Minister Moshe Kaḥlon (Kulanu) said Tuesday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) will not be able to continue leading the State of Israel if he is charged in a series of corruption probes.
“A prime minister under indictment and after a hearing cannot function,” Kaḥlon said in an interview with Ḥadashot TV.
The finance minister had said in March that his Kulanu party would pull out of the coalition if Netanyahu were to be indicted. Such a move would lead to the government’s collapse and initiate early elections.
Moshe Kaḥlon’s remarks late Tuesday came hours after Netanyahu insisted that the police investigations were not hindering his ability to lead the nation.
The premier has been interrogated by police several times in recent months over suspicions against him in three separate graft cases, raising speculation that he might call early elections to obtain a new mandate prior to any possible indictment.
Rebuffing rumors that he would call new elections soon after the Knesset returns from its recess next week, Netanyahu said his government was “making efforts” to solve coalition crises but that an early vote is not inevitable.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas), however, told the Walla news site Tuesday evening that he expects a date for early Knesset elections to be determined after municipal elections are held throughout the country at the end of October.
“I estimate the elections will be held at the end of the winter,” he said.
Also on Tuesday, a leader of a coalition party told Channel 10 that assuming Netanyahu is reelected, his party will support a law that grants the prime minister immunity in case he is charged in one or more of the corruption cases against him.
According to the report, the unnamed minister explained that toppling Netanyahu’s government after the election would be a “distortion of the voters’ wishes,” since they are already aware of the suspicions against him.
Coalition whip David “Dudi” Amsalem (Likud) had said earlier Tuesday that he would vote in favor of preserving the prime minister’s immunity in case of an indictment.
Netanyahu, however, said he thought such a vote would anyway be unnecessary.
