A blow to Bibi

摘要

BINYAMIN NETANYAHU has long hoped to make history this year. On April 9th, when Israel holds a general election, he aims to equal the record of the country's founding prime minister, David Ben Gu-rion, by racking up a fifth election victory. Following that, in July, he envisions becoming Israel's longest-serving leader. He may yet achieve those milestones, but as The Economist went to press he seemed set to make history of a different sort, becoming Israel's first sitting prime minister to be indicted, pending a hearing. Mr Netanyahu's Likud party has gone to Israel's High Court with a petition to delay the announcement by the attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, whether to pursue an indictment until after the election. That is unlikely to succeed. Mr Mandelblit has argued that it is "in the public interest" for the decision to be announced before the vote. Moreover, his timing was decided before Mr Netanyahu called the early election, in part to forestall the indictment.