Police recommend indicting Netanyahu Prime minister's government in peril in influence-trading scandal; Netanyahu's options Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's options under Israeli electoral law if he is indicted, according to Professor Uriel Reichman, former dean of the law faculty at Tel Aviv University. Reichman was a key lobbyist and author of the new electoral law: MUST NETANYAHU STEP DOWN? No. Under Israel's law on the direct election of the prime minister, there is no explicit requirement that the prime minister step down if indicted or even convicted. CAN THE PRIME MINISTER BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE? Yes, in three ways: By a majority of 61 out of 120 Knesset members, in which case new elections are held within 60 days for both prime minister and parliament meaning the lawmakers must be prepared to sacrifice their own positions as well as the prime minister's. By a special majority of 80 out of 120 members, in which case the Knesset serves out its full four-year term and only elections for a new prime minister are held. If a prime minister has been convicted of a crime that "carries with it disgrace" such as fraud and breach of trust, the infractions attributed to Netanyahu he can be impeached without dissolving the Knesset by a simple majority of 61. WHAT IF NETANYAHU QUITS? If Netanyahu resigns, elections will be held within 60 days for the prime minister only; the Knesset would serve out its term, through 2000.