Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can stay on in his post although he has been indicted on corruption charges, Israel's attorney general said Monday.
Avichai Mandelblit, in a statement, said "there are no legal obligation for the prime minister to resign".
Under Israeli law, while ministers cannot keep their posts after indictment, a prime minister is not legally required to step down unless convicted and with all appeals exhausted.
But the embattled premier has faced calls to resign from several politicians since Mandelblit last Thursday charged him with bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
The indictment comes as Israel edges closer to its third general election in a year, after two inconclusive polls in April and September, with Netanyahu and centrist rival Benny Gantz unable to form a government.
Gantz's Blue and White party won one more seat than Netanyahu's rightwing Likud in the September polls.
Parliament now has less than three weeks to find a candidate who can gain the support of more than half of the Knesset's 120 lawmakers, or a deeply unpopular third election will be called.
Netanyahu remains the country's interim premier.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Netanyahu Vows To Keep Control Of Rafah Crossing Even After Ceasefire Deal Biden, Netanyahu Expected To Meet Next Week: White House "No Place For Violence": World Leaders Condemn Attack On Donald Trump Over 300 Indian Students Return Home As 64 Bangladeshis Killed In Protests Windows Computers Lead To 'Blue Screen Of Death' Due To CrowdStrike Error In 1st Statement After Outage, CrowdStrike CEO Says... "Probe China Link To Political Voices That Targeted Adani Group": Mahesh Jethmalani Man Shot, Burnt To Death In Gurugram, Accused On The Run: Cops "No Unity": Families Of Israeli Hostages Divided On How To Secure Release Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.