Following official request for Knesset Speaker, Netanyahu plays on time • Lieberman's announcement that Israel Beitenu will vote against immunity guarantees almost a loss to Prime Minister Netanyahu's card: The Knesset committee hearings may not end until the elections - and then the whole process must begin Re • Interpretation

• Benjamin Netanyahu // Photo: Tzachi Miriam

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement Wednesday (Wednesday) about his decision to ask the Knesset to grant him immunity and thus effectively postpone his trial, as long as he enjoys parliamentary immunity, did not surprise anyone.

The announcement was expected, but from now on, Netanyahu and his Likud supporters are facing two opposing tasks, respectively: the first is to prevent a majority from voting for the Knesset committee, and the second to try to raise a majority in the Knesset's committee and to grant him immunity.

Netanyahu announces: "I will ask for immunity" // Photo: Ami Shamir

The first task was made even more difficult last night because the Israel House faction announced that it would support the establishment of a Knesset committee. In this situation, the opposition has a majority to form a committee to deal with immediately after its establishment in a quasi-judicial role entrusted to it by law, and it is up to whether to grant immunity from prosecution to Netanyahu, after the Attorney General filed three serious indictments against him, or reject his request and require him to appear in court. "Q to try to prove his innocence.

All the indications indicate that the opposition opposition committee is set up, and Netanyahu's request for immunity will be discussed. It can also be assumed that the committee itself will have a majority of opponents of immunity. However, it should be borne in mind that the debate in the Knesset Committee is expected to take a long time - perhaps even months. The Commission, in fact, assumes a quasi-judicial role in this case, so it is not a single hearing or a quick process. Among others are expected to appear before the Supreme Court, Netanyahu's attorneys, the prime minister himself and many other parties involved in the cases.

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Therefore, Netanyahu's strategy is likely to attract the expected Knesset debate as far as possible, in order to reach the elections and hope to obtain 61 seats in them. Any decision on immunity is valid only during the Knesset term in which it was adopted, so that although the opposition is expected by a majority in the current debate, it will lose its meaning as soon as the next Knesset is sworn in.

As one who has reviewed numerous cases over the years in which the Knesset has dealt with requests by the House for the removal of MK immunity, I can attest that the considerations that usually guide the committee members are not merely relevant considerations. The political considerations are ultimately decisive, and it is clear from the outset that Netanyahu's attorneys, who will appear before the Knesset, will not be able to convince MKs of Blue and White, Labor, Meretz, the joint list and Israel our home to grant Netanyahu immunity, even if they present hair-nailing evidence.

This will be the first time in the history of Israeli parliamentarianism that a prime minister will stand before the Knesset committee and ask him to grant him immunity. Until 2005, when the Immunity Law was amended, the Court had to ask the Knesset to remove MK's immunity to bring him to trial, but since the law was amended 15 years ago, the initiative to hold the hearing on immunity has been passed to the elected public. He is the one who has to convince the commission - according to several grounds set out in the law - that his prosecution stems from foreign considerations and is not justified, so it must be rejected.

The question is whether Netanyahu will succeed in convincing the Knesset, in light of the power relations in the Knesset, and then the plenum to grant him immunity. To date, the prospects for this seem slim.