Israel's High Court rejected to declare PM Netanyahu unfit for office

On Monday, Israel's High Court rejected a petition, signed by former chiefs of staff Dan Halutz and Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be declared unfit for office.

The petitioners claimed that Netanyahu violated the conflict of interest standard and argued that the decision to continue Operation Swords of Iron was related to the prime minister's desire to obstruct ongoing legal proceedings against him.

The justices of the High Court rejected the lawsuit as unsubstantiated. In their verdict, they stated that the plaintiffs' arguments were based on press publications and could not be proven with facts. Justices Ofer Grosskopf, Khaled Kabub, and Noam Sohlberg pointed out that the plaintiffs' allegations of supposed violations by Netanyahu regarding Operation Swords of Iron were based on assumptions and speculation.

"Claims that the prime minister's decisions are influenced by interests related to his criminal proceedings may be suitable for an opinion column in a newspaper, but not a basis for a legal lawsuit," the verdict stated.

The justices also criticized the plaintiffs, emphasizing that since the rejection of the previous lawsuit with the same demand, the plaintiffs still could not point to specific actions that would support their claims.

The High Court has rejected petitions to declare Netanyahu unfit for office twice before on procedural grounds.