Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that he had ordered that the Recommendations Law be amended so that it would not apply to investigations to which his name was connected.
The Recommendations Law seeks to prohibit police from making recommendations for or against prosecution at the end of an investigation. Opponents of the law have accused the law of shielding Netanyahu from negative police recommendations in ongoing investigations against him, with MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) going so far as to call the Law "Netanyahu's Law."
In a post published on Facebook, Netanyahu wrote, "The Recommendations Law is a good law, it protects the human dignity, it regulates the clear separation that exists in a democracy between the role of the police and the role of the legal echelons. In matters rooted in law, the legal echelon is the only body qualified to decide whether to put a person on trial."
"The law is intended to prevent publication of police recommendations that leave a cloud on innocent people, something that happens every so often," Netanyahu added.
"Unfortunately, preoccupation with the Law has become a tool for politically battering an elected government, one which has brought with it unprecedented achievements in security, economy, social, and diplomatic spheres. In order for the discussion of the Law to be matter-of-fact and not used for political propaganda, I asked MK Amsalem to ensure that the Law be drafted in such a way that it would not apply to the investigation that is being conducted against me,” the Prime Minister declared.
Attacking police, Netanyahu continued, “In any event, it is clear to all that the recommendations of the police in the case pertaining to me are meaningless. They seem to have been set at the beginning of the investigation, leaked all along the way, and have not changed despite the clear facts that present themselves time after time, proving that there is nothing to go on."
"In a law-abiding democracy, it is necessary to allow the legal echelons to make decisions in a matter-of-fact manner free of pressure, therefore the Recommendations Law must be passed. The Law is correct and needed, and when it becomes clear that it has nothing to do with my personal affairs, I expect all members of the coalition to support it."