JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

The Israeli government plans to introduce a bill on Monday to reconsider the corruption charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, local media said.

“The government intends this afternoon to present the bill…for a vote at the opening of the Knesset’s winter session,” the public broadcaster KAN said.

The Knesset’s winter session is set to begin this evening after a three-month recess.

“The move aims to appoint a state attorney instead of the current legal adviser, Gali Baharav-Miara, which could open the door to reconsidering the corruption charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” KAN said.

The bill is scheduled to be brought before the Knesset for a vote next Wednesday, the broadcaster said.

Baharav-Miara has consistently opposed halting Netanyahu’s corruption trial.

“The current legal adviser, Baharav-Miara, does not intend to use her powers to suspend the proceedings, while the government continues its efforts to reduce her authority or replace her through proposed legal amendments,” KAN said.

It added that the ruling coalition partners, the Likud, Religious Zionism, and Jewish Power, “are working intensively to persuade the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism to end their boycott of the vote, which stems from disagreements over the Haredi conscription bill, and to allow passage of this particular law.”

Last week, US President Donald Trump called during a speech at the Knesset for Israeli President Isaac Herzog to grant Netanyahu a pardon from the corruption charges.

However, Israeli law does not allow the president to pardon Netanyahu unless he first admits guilt. Netanyahu refuses to admit guilt in any of the cases being tried against him.

In January, Netanyahu began interrogation sessions related to charges in the cases designated 1000, 2000, and 4000, all of which he denies.

Case 1000 involves Netanyahu and his family receiving expensive gifts from wealthy businessmen in exchange for favors.

Case 2000 concerns alleged negotiations with Arnon Mozes, the publisher of the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, to gain positive media coverage.

Case 4000, considered the most serious, involves providing facilitation to Shaul Elovitch, the former owner of the news site Walla and a telecommunications company, Bezeq, in return for favorable media coverage.

Netanyahu, whose trial began on May 24, 2020, is the first sitting Israeli leader to take the stand as a criminal defendant in the country’s history.

He also faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, with the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for him and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024 over atrocities in Gaza, where over 68,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed since October 2023.