It is clear that Benjamin Netanyahu is finding his current situation tiresome. Under the law, parliamentary immunity is something that you ask for – and he has forgotten how to ask.
In his 13 years in power, he has become accustomed to making demands, not requests.
This is apparent in Case 1000, one of the three investigations that led to his indictment for fraud, bribery and breach of trust. The prime minister allegedly did not ask for gifts from others - he demanded them, with detailed lists.
It is tiresome for him, because he knows that anyone who seeks immunity is viewed as guilty in the court of public opinion. In a nation of laws, an innocent man fights for his innocence and criminals ask for immunity.
It's tiresome for him, because he knows that anyone asking for immunity is seen as a coward by the public. The hero who stood up to the president of the United States is afraid to stand up to prosecutors in court.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with then-U.S> President Barack Obama
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
His voters, even those who are willing to turn a blind eye to the offenses with which he is charged, will find it hard to explain away such cowardice. This is not how the so-called king of Israel should behave. The king of Israel does not run away from battles - he fights and he wins.
With two months to go before the elections, this dichotomy could have dramatic significance at the ballot box. Netanyahu knows this and is prepared.
By the time he announced that he was seeking immunity on Wednesday night, he had two answers for his base.
The first, made by his inner circle, was that he struggled with this decision; that he didn’t want to ask for immunity at all but was persuaded by his lawyers, for legal reasons, after hours of debate.
The second came from Netanyahu himself. He is asking for immunity because the deep state snakes nestling in the bosom of the Justice Ministry basement have vowed to destroy him. They are jealous of him; they hate him; they are (sotto voce) leftists.
Both explanations are baseless, but there is a vast difference between them - one is nonsensical, the other is a toss of the dice for the entire pot.
The prosecution has made quite a few mistakes over the years – dabbling in vanity and opacity, over-enthusiasm and carelessness, but whoever accuses it of a dark political plot is deliberately lying.
Netanyahu has every right to fight the indictments against him, and he also has every right to seek immunity. But he has no right to destroy whatever is left of public trust in state institutions. Without that trust there is no law, no institutions, no army, no state.
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Supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu protest his indictments at a Tel Aviv rally
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
If in his hour of need Netanyahu decides he wants to be an anarchist, he should pop over to the West Bank and protest against the security fence.
The issue of Netanyahu's immunity will likely play a major role in the March 2 elections. The vision of a unity government is dead: Netanyahu is instead pinning his hopes on a right-wing government, a 61-MK government, an immunity government, and Blue & White leader Benny Gantz is pinning his hopes on thwarting this plan.
The repeated failure to form a government after the previous two rounds of elections should have brought the two major parties together, but the opposite happened: Both are trapped in an impasse of Netanyahu's making – Blue & White won't form a coalition with him and the Likud won't form a coalition without him.
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Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz hold coalition talks in Tel Aviv
(Photo: Elad Malka)
Even if the next Knesset does grant Netanyahu his immunity, Gantz and his party will not join his government. They are sick of him.
Netanyahu could have improved his lot somewhat if he had simply said on Wednesday night: "I am in the midst doing of great deeds. All I ask for is some time.
"Give me immunity for a year or two after which I will resign and put my fate in the hands of the courts."
But he chose the opposite. "If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thorn bush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!" (Judges 9:15)