Israel is at War, Yet They Hold Their Leaders Accountable Under Law. Why Can’t We?

Netanyahu must stand trial for corruption even while his nation is in the midst of a war against four terrorist enemies…and they still kicked kicked their enemies’ rear ends.

The United States is unique among the world’s democratic republics. While we were the first major nation to abolish monarchies and allow the people to choose their leaders, we ironically maintain one outmoded characteristic of monarchies: the American President is placed above the law, immune from the legal consequences facing every other American citizen should they break the laws. Our Presidents cannot be prosecuted or punished while in office aside from impeachment, and recently, the US Supreme Court held that a President is immune from criminal liability for just about anything they do under the guise of an official act. (So if an American President orders the Postal Inspectors to shoot dead a prominent critic on the theory that it will make the mail go faster, that President is utterly immune.)

Other nations regularly prosecute and punish their corrupt leaders. We’ve seen it occur in South Korea, Taiwan, Italy and France among other nations. They did not fear, as we do in the US, that a President is such an indispensable part of the government, that their executive authority must not be compromised or suspended, even in the face of serious criminal activity.

Interesting how Israel is a nation at war, yet they can put their Prime Minister on…