Coalition chairman warns against undermining Netanyahu
Amid the recent surge of criticism against the prime minister over the ongoing criminal investigations against him, Coalition Chairman MK David Bitan organizes a support rally to bolster party loyalty for the embattled PM, while warning: 'Netanyahu will not sit idly by' while people plan to undermine him.
Coalition Chairman MK David Bitan warned other Likud members from trying to undermine Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently under police investigation.
In an interview with Ynet on Tuesday morning, Bitan addressed moves being made within the Likud party to form an alternative government should Netanyahu be forced to resign.
"The prime minister will not sit idly by" while others are working to undermine him, the coalition chairman warned.
Netanyahu's current situation, Bitan said, "is not pleasant. Netanyahu admits he received cigars—there is no argument about this—but there is a great distance from this to ousting the prime minister. It's not that there was nothing—there is an investigation, so there must be something to investigate—but nothing will come of it. What counts are the results of the investigation."
He insisted Netanyahu should not have to resign even if he is indicted, saying "The law establishing the government explicitly states the prime minister must resign only after being convicted."
On former chief of staff Ari Harow becoming a state witness against Netanyahu, Bitan said: "We don't know what the situation with the state witness is. I know one thing: Netanyahu does not like this situation. This much is true. But he says he will get through it."
Bitan said he was organizing a support rally for the prime minister "because of the media and public assault on Netanyahu, not because he is being investigated."
"We are also holding a support rally to improve morale in the Likud party and to close ranks. Remember: When we lost the election to Ehud Barak, it was because people thought the Likud was corrupt," he added.
Netanyahu is under investigation in two criminal cases: the so-called Case 1000 revolves around suspicious he and his family members received illicit gifts from wealthy donors, while the so-called Case 2000 concerns talks he had with Yedioth Ahronoth owner Arnon Mozes seeking more favorable coverage in return for weakening Yedioth's rival newspaper Israel Hayom.
