Leftist Witch-Hunt to Sabotage Netanyahu- Trump Alliance

It appears that a public legal war of attrition has been orchestrated by the Israeli leftist media and the police to pressure the Attorney General to indict Prime Minister Netanyahu over meritless and trivial cases, in order to weaken him and eventually remove him from office.  Their goal is to sabotage as quickly as they can, a potential Netanyahu -Trump friendship and alliance which they believe would end the left’s delusional dream of a Palestinian state and so called peace deal.

Their strategy of overthrowing Netanyahu is twofold. The first one is to pressure the Attorney General to indict Bibi on anything. The second one is to pressure Netanyahu to resign immediately after being indicted by chipping away at public support in his innocence and creating pressure on the government coalition to ask for his resignation.  According to Israeli Law, a Prime Minister is not required to resign if indicted.  Like every other individual, a Prime Minister is presumed innocent until convicted by a court of law and the entire appeal process has been exhausted. Since the process can take years, the police, media and members of the opposition parties on the center left decided to conduct a public trial to convict him before according him his day in court, in order to accelerate his downfall before he can inflict damage on their delusions of peace.

Otherwise, how do you explain the coincidence that for 9 months the investigation was going on unnoticed but following the unexpected win by Trump on November 8, all hell broke loose and the Israeli media’s feeding frenzy accelerated by daily focusing on unsubstantiated innuendos about the allegedly corrupt Netanyahu?

How do you explain the steady stream of apparent leaks of allegedly incriminating evidence from confidential police sources to anti Netanyahu leftist sources like channel 2, channel 10, and Haaretz to create a drumbeat of criminal guilt, while the prime minster is legally forbidden from defending himself until the end of the investigations?

The police think in terms of finding evidence, the media thinks in terms of readership and viewership, but prosecutors are supposed to think in terms of winning cases. The Attorney General must think carefully about the consequences before deciding to indict a democratic elected sitting prime minister on non-  winnable cases regarding trivial matters.  The Attorney General must be careful not to be used or be influenced by the obsessive media drumbeat, public polls or police leaks to meddle with the democratic system of government and overthrow elected leaders.  If recklessly indicted, there is no way back to repair the damage inflicted on the Prime Minister when found innocent.

As an attorney and a law professor in the United States for the last 24 years, the two cases presented in the media against Netanyahu appear to have no legal merit and would not be filed by any prosecutor in an American Court.

In the first case, in most Western countries, including Israel, the law states that any government official can receive and give unlimited gifts from personal friends.  The idea that Netanyahu could be indicted for receiving cigars and Pink Champagne from friends would be ridiculed in many Democracies.

In the Second case, the law states that one cannot be charged criminally for discussing committing a crime but only can be charged for taking the first step towards committing it. The selective excerpts of the audio recordings of Netanyahu with the owner of the newspapers Ynet and the printed Yediot- Aharonot reveal that there were discussions of quid pro quo deal, but the deal was never consummated or implemented.

But much more, the Attorney General has to be careful about the destabilizing effects of removing a leader with the international stature of Netanyahu to the reputation, deterrence power, and security of Israel in an era of rising anti-Semitism, radical Islam and Iran’s regional destructive influence and stated desire to destroy the Jewish State.

The Attorney General must not deprive the Jewish state of reaping the potential fruits of the Trump Era after 8 years of a nightmarish treatment of Israel by the pro- Palestinian Obama Administration.

The Trump victory provides Israel with the opportunity to have a true friend and an ally in the White House, but it needs Netanyahu’s leadership and reputation to explain to and, lobby the new administration to cement the friendship and implement those opportunities.

The bad news for Israel is that the White House on Thursday seems to have publicly warned Israel against expanding its settlement presence in the West Bank saying it may not be helpful to achieve peace after Israel approved 5, 500 housing units in the area.   However, the good news is that the White House also said that Trump has not taken an official position on the settlement activity and is looking forward to continuing the discussion with Prime Minister- Netanyahu, when he visits with President Trump on February 15.

Having clouds of criminal investigations and a potential indictment could weaken his hands in his dealings with Trump.  As we all know by now, Trump is a strong leader who respects other strong international leaders. One of the first things Trump did as President was to return back the bust of Churchill to the White House.

Trump himself, many in his inner circle, the Republican Party and the Congress it controls are unabashedly pro-Zionist mostly because they have admired Prime Minister Netanyahu as the Churchill of our time.  Netanyahu has become the most recognizable Israeli leader in the US and its most effective advocate and the Americans and especially the Republicans seem to embrace him as one of their own.

Just imagine how prosperous, secure and strong the country will be with Netanyahu and Trump working side by side to fight radical Islam including Iran and protect Israel ‘s geo-strategic assets and Jerusalem.

However, Trump cannot be more Zionist or more to the right of any Prime Minister.  If the potential Prime Ministers from the center left parties, such as Lapid, Livni and Hertzog would agree to a Palestinian State, a divided Jerusalem and the freezing of settlements, the Trump Administration would of course support it.  If the new Prime Minister comes from the right political block, such as Bennet or Lieberman, who are not as equally known or respected as Netanyahu their demands will be dismissed and disregarded.

The question now is whether the Attorney General will rise to the occasion and become a Zionist and Patriot and let Netanyahu finish his term and fulfill the opportunity of making Israel great.

Her blog; www.shoularomanohoring.com