Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lawyer Michael Rabilo dismissed the contempt of court petition against the prime minister as an “attempted coup.”

The high court petition accuses Netanyahu of violating the conflict-of-interest agreement he signed in 2020, which prevents him from being personally involved in legislative issues that could affect his ongoing corruption trial. Netanyahu has been indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three separate legal cases.

“This is a grave attempt to drag the judicial system into the political turmoil and cause it to decide illegally and in opposition to the decision of the representative democratic institutions, without explicit authority in law,” said Rabilo. “No word games can hide the fact that there’s an attempt here to uproot the sovereignty of the people and carry out a coup under the cover of the court.”

Last Friday, Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara accused Netanyahu of acting illegally by getting personally involved in the judicial overhaul.

The Movement for Quality Government (MQG), an organization that opposes the Netanyahu government’s judicial reforms, urged the Supreme Court to force the prime minister to comply with the law or to punish him with a fine, and even prison time if he refuses.

Eliad Shraga, the head of the MQG, accused Netanyahu of being a privileged anarchist.

“A prime minister who doesn’t obey the court and the provisions of the law is privileged and an anarchist,” said Shraga. “The prime minister will be forced to bow his head before the law and comply with the provisions of the law.”

This article originally appeared on All Israel News and is reposted with permission.