Kahlon: Indictment against PM doesn't mean Kulanu withdrawal
Speaking on 'Meet the Press' TV program, finance minister says presumption of innocence until proven guilty applies to PM too, but does a U-turn after saying an indictment against Netanyahu would mean he 'has to go.'
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has pledged not to withdraw his Kulanu party from the coalition, regardless of whether police release a recommendation to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the conclusion of a string of corruption investigations.
Speaking in an interview with Israeli journalist Amit Segal on the Channel 13 “Meet the Press” program, Kahlon said “The presumption of innocence applies to everyone,” and called for the the media hype surrounding ongoing investigations be reined in.
“Allow the recommendations to be made. We won’t avoid a decision, but I am saying to you that at the moment, the law states that until the Attorney General (AG) makes a decision, there is no reason to deal with it at all. When the AG declares there is an indictment, I have no doubt that Netanyahu will have to go. Until then, everything is speculation. Let’s see what happens.”
Pressed on the statement, Kahlon sought to clarify his remarks by insisting that he meant Netanyahu would only have to leave office after a hearing, not after the filing of an indictment.
“I didn’t pass a budget just to go and dismantle the government in one month,” Kahlon said as he doubled down on his commitment of loyalty to Netanyahu. “Anyone who thinks I am demolition contractor I think is deluding himself.”
Also asked about the recordings of the prime minister’s son, Yair Netanyahu, in which he can be heard telling Ori Maimon that he has to "hook him up. Bro, my father cut a great deal for your father in the Knesset, bro" and discussing with two other friends his experiences at a strip club, Kahlon was reticent, but did offer his thoughts that a sincere apology by the young Netanyahu was necessary.
“I am not getting into that. I just want to say that the things that were said really disturb me. Afterall, we all know women. We all have wives, daughters, sisters and a feminine environment and we want them to be respected,” Kahlon said.
“That’s why these things disturb me a lot more—the language and the conversation,” Kahlon added in reference to the crude conversations between Yair and his friends.
“I also want to say that if the apology from Netanyahu’s son was sincere, if he understood his mistake and genuinely apologized—not a political apology, but a real one from the heart, and he conveys the message that these things cannot be said—obviously I think this is an important message for the public.”
