Netanyahu is No Longer Allowed to Appoint Top Figures to the Judiciary

Israel’s Supreme Court has banned outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from interfering with the appointment of a range of top police and judicial figures.

The verdict comes two days after the election. These resulted in a result that makes the formation of a new coalition government very difficult.

Netanyahu is a political veteran who has served as prime minister of coalition governments on several occasions. But he has also become involved in lawsuits where he is accused of corruption, fraud and breach of trust. He has used his premiership to keep those legal problems at bay.

The Supreme Court has confirmed in proceedings brought by a human rights group that an arrangement is being made that Netanyahu cannot appoint people to senior judicial positions, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Netanyahu hoped to stay on with a narrow profit for his right-wing Likud party and his allies. But they will probably get 59 of the 120 seats together. According to Israeli media, almost all votes have been counted, but the final result is delayed by counting votes by letter.

The chance that Netanyahu can put together a coalition again is even smaller with the court decision on Thursday than the election results already indicate. Potential coalition members think twice before they want to do business with him.