Noah Feldman, Columnist

Charges Against Netanyahu Show Israel’s Strength

Its governing institutions can stand up to the political pressure of indicting a sitting leader.

March 1, 2019 at 12:30 AM EST

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People."

Strong hands.
Photographer: Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images

Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal

LEARN MORE

Ordinarily it’s bad for democracy when a sitting head of government is notified that he will face corruption charges. But the pending indictment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the height of an Israeli election season is actually a good thing for the rule of law.

The reason isn’t that the charges might weaken Netanyahu’s re-election bid. That’s probably true, but it’s irrelevant to my analysis.

Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal

LEARN MORE