Israeli group asks court to punish Netanyahu over legal plan

By TIA GOLDENBERG
Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An Israeli good governance group has asked the country’s Supreme Court to punish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for allegedly violating a conflict of interest agreement meant to prevent him from dealing with the country’s judiciary while he is on trial for corruption. The request Sunday by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel deepens a brewing showdown between Netanyahu’s government and the judiciary. The government is trying to overhaul the judiciary in a contentious plan that has sparked widespread opposition. Netanyahu has promised to intervene in the legal overhaul despite being barred by the country’s attorney general from doing so, based on the conflict of interest agreement he is bound to.