Knesset passes in its preliminary reading a bill to strip Bar Association of powers

The Knesset passes in its preliminary reading a bill to strip the Israel Bar Association legal organization of its powers and transfer them to a new government-appointed body.

It does so weeks after the country’s lawyers elected Amit Becher — who has been bitterly critical of the coalition’s judicial overhaul push — as head of the bar association, defeating the coalition’s preferred candidate.

The bill would remove the bar’s licensing authority and its representation on the committee that selects judges, effectively voiding its powers. These would instead go to a yet-to-be-created Lawyers Council, which would be led by a district court judge appointed by the justice minister.

Becher has called the legislation “thuggish, anti-democratic and absurd” and warned that lawyers could “shut down” the judicial system if it is passed into law.