Coalition Passes Law Gutting Attorney General's Powers, Stripping a Key Check on Government | Israel Politics Post
Coalition Passes Law Gutting Attorney General's Powers, Stripping a Key Check on Government
The 65-51 vote lets ministers override the attorney general's binding legal opinions and hands the government direct control over the AG's appointment, replacing the independent selection committee currently in place.
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By Israel Politics Post Staff·Published
MK Simcha Rothman celebrates with Justice Minister Yariv Levin after the vote to weaken the attorney general's powers · Source: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90, via The Times of Israel
The Knesset voted 65-51 to pass legislation sharply weakening the authority of Israel's attorney general, The Times of Israel reported, in what opposition lawmakers and legal experts described as the dismantling of one of the last independent checks on government power.
The law lets government ministers reject the attorney general's binding legal positions and shifts control over appointing the attorney general to the government itself, replacing the independent selection committee that currently handles the process. It is set to take effect in January 2027, after the October election. An earlier version of the bill that would have also curbed the AG's prosecutorial authority was dropped to speed the law's passage, though its sponsors said they intend to pursue that separately if reelected.
Netanyahu himself was absent from the debate and the vote. The bill passed after coalition negotiators secured additional concessions for ultra-Orthodox partners, including funding for Haredi daycare teachers, to lock down the votes needed.
Opposition MK Gilad Kariv and other lawmakers have already filed High Court petitions seeking to overturn the law, which marks the latest step in a judicial overhaul campaign the coalition first launched in 2023.
