Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said he will resign from all ministerial positions by Jan. 1, 2020, but stressed he has no intention of stepping down as premier.
The decision, filed with the High Court of Justice, followed a petition by the Movement for Quality Government, demanding that Netanyahu, who is facing a corruption indictment, vacates all his posts.
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Netanyahu currently holds the health, welfare, agriculture, and Diaspora affairs portfolios. He is expected to appoint ministers for these posts until the March 2, 2020 elections conclude and a new government is sworn in.
Netanyahu's lawyers informed the court that while Israeli law does not preclude an indicted prime minister from staying in office, nor does it require him to relinquish any ministerial post, he will do so out of respect to the judicial process.
They further argued that the law requires a minister to resign only if they have been found guilty of a crime involving moral turpitude.
"It is not the High Court of Justice's place to intervene on the issue of resignation. The interest of maintaining the public's faith in the judiciary mandates that the court uphold the fundamental of the law in this case. Any judicial intervention in this process will be detrimental to the principle of separation of powers, Israeli democracy, and the Knesset's authority to regulate this issue via a basic law, as it has done so far."
As Netanyahu is the first sitting prime minister to be indicted, Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit has already weighed in on the administrative-constitutional implications of the situation, which poses a legal precedent.
He ruled that the court has no say on whether Netanyahu should or should not take a leave of absence to sort out his legal situation, saying that "this decision is best left on the political-public sphere."
