Ministerial committee advances bill to make AG take lie detector test every 2 years

By Sam Sokol 18 January 2026, 9:33 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a hearing of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee in Jerusalem, September 30, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/ Flash90)

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation advances an amendment to the General Security Service Law requiring the attorney general to take a polygraph test every two years and answer questions regarding the “leaking of classified information to unauthorized parties.”

If passed into law, the bill, sponsored by Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer, would also apply to the attorney general’s deputies, the state attorney, and other senior Justice Ministry employees.

Kroizer’s bill comes on the heels of the revelation that footage purporting to show guards at the Sde Teiman military base severely abusing a Gazan inmate was leaked last year by then-military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi. The criminal investigation into the leaked video stemmed from a failed polygraph test by an officer in the military advocate general’s office, reportedly the spokesperson for the unit.

In addition, the coalition has tried unsuccessfully for months to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, accusing her of working against the government and undermining its interests. Baharav-Miara has opposed several of the government’s signature legislative initiatives and has refused to defend the government in proceedings in the High Court of Justice against some of its policies and legislation.

In its explanatory notes, the bill argues that “public trust in law enforcement is very low,” due to “constant leaks, selective enforcement, and the promotion of personal interests” when filing indictments, arguing that senior employees in the attorney general’s office and the Justice Ministry’s Advisory and Legislative Division should be required to take periodic polygraph tests just as senior law enforcement, intelligence, and military officials currently do in order to “help increase public trust.”

In a post on X following the ministerial committee vote on his bill, Kroizer shares a video containing an apparent AI animation of a polygraph machine shorting out while hooked up to Baharav-Miara.