A political earthquake erupted in Israel on Wednesday morning after former Israel Police Chief Roni Alsheich essentially admitted that the goal of the indictments against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was to cause him to resign.

Alsheich was asked during an interview with Army Radio why Netanyahu’s cases became so complicated and he responded with the shocking statement: “No one could have guessed that he wouldn’t resign,” and then expanded his statement by adding that everyone expected the Likud party to realize that they needed to get rid of Netanyahu and find a new leader.

Alsheich began by saying: “Everyone was very cautious and I’m including here of course the decision makers and the judicial side, everyone was very careful. After all, no one could guess that ultimately, the prime minister would choose not to resign and fight from within the [political] system.”

The radio host interrupted: “What is this that you’re saying? You built [the cases] on the assumption that he would resign due to the investigation?

Alsheich: “It wasn’t a matter of building…

Radio host: “You were saying that it was impossible to guess that he would decide to deal with the court case while serving as prime minister…

Alsheich: “No, I’m saying…it still didn’t happen…I think…You know what? I’m talking about, first of all, not the prime minister, but the party [Likud] that fought instead of saying for the good of the State, it needs to find a new leader.”

Radio host: “In other words, there was an expectation that the Likud would spit out Netanyahu after it was decided to indict him.”

Alsheich: “I think that’s a basic moral.”

Alsheich added that they had in mind the precedent of former prime minister Ehud Omert: “When the charges were filed against him, the expectation was that he would resign from his position, like Olmert.”

Diaspora Minister Amichai Chiki (Likud) responded to the report by stating: “Simply put, the goal was not to investigate the truth but to carry out a coup d’état using legal tools. It is our duty to ensure that all concerned are held accountable for these grave acts that have caused mortal harm to Israeli society as a whole.”

Likud MK Shomo Karhi, who is a lawyer by profession, already sent a letter to Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara demanding the opening of an immediate investigation against former Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich for fabricating criminal cases with the goal of removing the ruling prime minister.

“This is a story of gang rule,” Karhi wrote. “Alsheich targeted the prime minister and surrounded him with false evidence and accusations. This is the real coup d’état that simply did not succeed for them. Alsheich’s words warrant an investigation under warning and the sooner the better.”

Guy Levy, the Likud party spokesperson, said; “For years we’ve been saying there aren’t idiots sitting in the Attorney General’s Office. There’s no way they expected to go to court with this delusional indictment with no evidence and win. And that it was all just an attempt to get Netanyahu to quit. Now years later, [Alsheich] admits it in his own voice!”

The Likud party issued a statement saying: “In his shocking admission in an interview this morning, Alsheich revealed that the connection to the coup d’état did not work as planned. Alsheich said: ‘It was impossible to guess that the prime minister would not resign, that the party wouldn’t say that it’s for the State’s good that he resign.'”

“Alsheich admitted that he assumed that the filing of the indictment against Prime Minister Netanyahu would cause him to resign and the Likud to replace him with someone else. The only thing that thwarted his government coup plan was Netanyahu’s firm stance and his insistence on fighting for the disclosure of the truth.”

“Alsheich’s confession requires the opening of an investigation against him and against his accomplices in the fabrication of these cases in order to reveal the motives behind the filing of the indictment against a sitting prime minister and the democratic election of the people.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)