Bill to split and weaken role of attorney general passes first Knesset reading

By Ariela Karmel

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2 June 2026, 4:27 am

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara gives a speech at the Israel Bar Association, June 1, 2026. (Courtesy Israel Bar Association)

Lawmakers vote 65-47 to advance a pair of controversial bills that would curtail the power of the attorney general and make it harder to indict high-ranking government officials.

After passing their first plenum readings, the bills will return to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee for further deliberations ahead of the additional readings they must pass to become law.

The legislation to weaken the role of the attorney general is the latest front in the government’s long-running battle with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, with whom it has clashed since its first weeks in office, in large part over its efforts to assert control over the judiciary and limit other checks on executive power.

The first of the bills would split the attorney general’s role into three separate positions, effectively draining it of all authority and independence, in a move critics say is intended to weaken the office and remove a major check on government power, including during upcoming elections.

It would also effectively remove all power from the slimmed-down attorney general position in the role of chief legal adviser to the government, including by making the officeholder’s rulings non-binding.

The second bill would make it significantly more difficult to indict senior elected officials, including the prime minister, requiring the attorney general to obtain permission from a district court before opening a criminal investigation into politicians or senior public servants.

Supporters have insisted that these reforms are necessary to allow elected governments to fulfill their mandate and carry out the will of the electorate.

The legislation is strongly opposed by professional representatives of the Justice Ministry and the State Attorney’s Office, opposition lawmakers and good governance organizations, who argue that it would remove one of the only brakes on executive power from Israel’s system of government and politicize the criminal prosecution service as well.