Knesset votes to split controversial bill to erode power of attorney general

The Knesset votes 59-45 to split its highly controversial legislation gutting the powers of the attorney general.

The decision to split the bill arose seemingly because the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee no longer had time to prepare the original bill before the Knesset is set to dissolve next week ahead of October elections, due to the legislation’s size and potential impact.

As a result, the bill will no longer divide the role of the attorney general into two separate offices — an attorney general and a prosecutor general — as the coalition had sought throughout the legislative process. Instead, criminal prosecution powers will remain with the attorney general for now.

The bill nevertheless preserves the most controversial aspect of the draft law: that the attorney general’s legal positions will no longer be binding for the government. Critics of this provision, including Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, say that allowing the government to decide for itself whether its actions are legal will severely violate the rule of law and remove a key check on government power.

The bill’s advancement follows a reported agreement between Netanyahu and the ultra-Orthodox parties ending their boycott of coalition legislation last month. Under the deal, the coalition agreed to advance key Haredi priorities, including legislation enshrining Torah study as a Basic Law and other related measures, in exchange for their support for the coalition’s own legislative agenda.

Constitution committee legal adviser Gur Bligh stated during today’s hearing that a key concern over the bill was the ability of the government to ignore the attorney general’s legal positions in “extreme” situations in which it tries to expand its authority beyond the boundaries of the law. Bligh said this was “especially dangerous” regarding criminal proceedings and election law for which the bill does not provide “adequate safeguards.”

The new version of the bill also removes the highly politicized method of hiring and firing the attorney general, which the previous version of the legislation stipulated, and which critics said would almost certainly undermine the independence of the attorney general. Instead, the new text of the bill says that the government will decide how the attorney general will be appointed and dismissed within 30 days of the law coming into effect after the upcoming elections.

The original version of the legislation passed its first reading in the Knesset plenum in June, but today’s plenum vote was required to approve the committee’s decision to split the bill.

Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman intends to begin the process of approving the bill for its final readings in Knesset tomorrow night, meaning that votes in the plenum for the final passage of the legislation will likely be scheduled for next week.