A key Knesset committee led by the Blue and White party voted to push forward with plans to rule on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s request for parliamentary immunity in the current Knesset, over the objections of Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein.
The Knesset’s Arrangements Committee, which is chaired by Blue and White MK Avi Nissenkorn, voted Monday to convene the Knesset’s House Committee and to empower it to rule on Netanyahu’s parliamentary immunity request.
The Arrangements Committee voted 16 to one in favor of convening the House Committee, which had not been formed for either the 21st or 22nd Knessets, due to their failure to form a new government.
Like all requests for parliamentary immunity, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s request must be assessed by the House Committee before being voted on by the Knesset plenum.
The Likud had pushed for the request to be assessed only after the March 2nd election – a move which would effectively freeze the legal proceedings against Netanyahu until after election day.
Blue and White, however, has demanded that Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein re-form the House Committee and allow it to rule on Netanyahu’s immunity request.
Edelstein has hitherto refused the demand, and in the Arrangements Committee’s decision Monday, the committee also voted to empower the House Committee to rule on the prime minister’s request, shielding it from Edelstein’s veto power.
The Arrangements Committee is expected to meet again Monday afternoon to be begin the process of forming the new House Committee – a process which will require a wide majority to approve and finalize.