Sa’ar defends contentious bill to split AG’s powers: ‘Built-in conflict of interest’

The power held by the Israeli attorney general has no parallel among other democratic nations, necessitating its division into multiple roles, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar argues.

Addressing the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, Sa’ar insists that there is a “built-in conflict of interest in the position.”

“There is no precedent in the democratic world for concentrating so much power and authority in the hands of an unelected official as in the role of Israel’s attorney general. How is a minister supposed to conduct a discussion with someone who is meant to be both his adviser and his hangman?” he asks.

The committee is currently debating a controversial government-backed bill to split the position into three separate jobs: legal adviser to the government, prosecutor general, and government representative in the courts. The bill passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset plenum late last month.

Sa’ar’s comments are especially notable because he served as justice minister in the previous government, which was led for a time by Yesh Atid chairman and current Opposition Leader Yair Lapid. Sa’ar tapped current Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara for her role.

Baharav-Miara has clashed numerous times with the current right-wing coalition, which has worked to dismiss her.

“I made it clear to the attorney general and to the state prosecutor, before their appointments, that I intended to advance this process. I don’t recall any objection in any of the meetings I held with them prior to the appointment,” Sa’ar said regarding the previous government, noting that in his New Hope party’s coalition agreements with Yesh Atid, “it was written that the parties agree that the attorney general’s role must be split.”

Responding to Sa’ar, Yesh Atid releases a statement accusing him of lying, asserting that “the proposal that was part of the coalition agreements in the previous government isn’t even remotely similar to the deranged and destructive version now before the Constitution Committee.”

Hitting back, New Hope tweets the relevant portion of the agreement, which states that the justice minister would submit a proposal splitting up the attorney general’s role for government discussion and approval.

“Lapid, as usual, has no idea what he’s talking about,” the party writes.