AG: Government racing to ‘eliminate democratic institutions’ ahead of elections

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara warns that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has launched a race to “eliminate democratic institutions” ahead of the upcoming elections.

Speaking at the Israel Bar Association conference, Baharav-Miara points to two bills currently being advanced by the coalition as especially problematic: one that would gut the position of attorney general of its powers to act as a check on the government and the other that would give the justice minister control over the Department for Internal Police Investigations, which investigates and prosecutes wrongdoing by the police.

“If in the past we talked about democracies falling in small steps, [today] a race to eliminate democratic institutions has begun due to the approaching end of the current Knesset’s term,” says the attorney general.

She says that the approval of the two bills in question would change the character of the law enforcement system in Israel.

“In a situation where the government calls for disobeying court rulings, the day will not be far off when a court ruling will be perceived by the public as non-binding,” adds Baharav-Miara in reference to numerous calls by multiple cabinet ministers not to abide by High Court rulings.