Attorney general says PM recusal law shouldn’t take effect until next Knesset

Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara calls for the High Court of Justice to rule that the coalition’s prime minister recusal law will only come into effect at the beginning of the next Knesset term, that is, after new elections.

Baharav-Miara issues her opinion in a written response to petitions against the legislation, passed as an amendment to Basic Law: The Government, demanding the High Court strike down the law as an abuse of the Knesset’s power to legislate Basic Laws, due to the way the measure was tailored to prevent the court or the attorney general ordering Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recuse himself.

“A Basic Law cannot be used as a kind of private resource that removes personal problems in the realm of ethical conduct and criminal law from [someone’s] path,” the attorney general writes in her court submission.

She adds that postponing the implementation date of the law until the next Knesset, it will be possible to “shape the arrangement from a broad policy perspective, with a forward-looking view and behind a ‘veil of ignorance,’” in order to strip the legislation of its highly personal nature.

The High Court held a preliminary hearing over the law which stipulates that only the government and Knesset can declare the prime minister incapacitated from serving as premier and only for health reasons.

During the hearing, the justices made it clear they believed the law to be personally tailored for Netanyahu, and on several occasions asked whether this problem could be resolved by delaying implementation of the bill, indicating that they are considering such a ruling.