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The leader of Israel’s right-wing Yisrael Beytenu party, Avigdor Liberman, asked the country’s attorney general on Monday to open a criminal investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for treason.
Getting into it: In a letter to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Liberman accused Netanyahu of spending the past month pressuring the heads of Israel’s security agencies to take steps that could spark a “miscalculation” with Iran, in what he said was an attempt to delay the country’s election. He argued that any action that could lead to war has to be approved by the full government under Israeli law.
The request came a day after Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu clashed with military chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir over an unspecified Iran-related operation, with Zamir asking for a full discussion and signed legal authorization before carrying it out. Liberman also accused Netanyahu of trying to undermine trust in Israel’s Central Elections Committee and the results. His letter didn’t include specific examples or evidence, and a request alone doesn’t open an investigation, which The Times of Israel called highly unlikely.
“The attempt to drag the state of Israel into war on the eve of elections, together with the willingness to sacrifice IDF soldiers solely due to fear of losing the elections, constitutes treason against the state, its security and the IDF soldiers,” Liberman wrote.
Netanyahu denied any clash with Zamir, calling the report “nonsense” in an interview with Channel 14 and saying the story was meant to distract from warnings that Iran was trying to interfere in the election. Defense Minister Israel Katz said coordination between Netanyahu, himself and the military on Iran has been complete, and called the opposition’s use of the reports shameful.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu rolled out a new national security doctrine naming the overthrow of Iran’s government as a strategic goal, and he warned Sunday that Iran and its allies could launch attacks to disrupt the vote.
