Critics of the right-wing Israeli government’s new judicial law fear it could threaten a key state watchdog: the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara.
As Israel’s chief prosecutor, Ms. Baharav-Miara is charged with overseeing the corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a “witch hunt” by state prosecutors.
Mr. Ms. Netanyahu’s coalition. Legal experts said it would allow Baharav-Miara to get rid of them more easily. He said the government would have to meet less challenging criteria to withstand judicial scrutiny.
“If the attorney general was summarily dismissed, at least until yesterday, the primary basis of the challenge was that it was completely unreasonable,” said Joshua Schoffman, a former Israeli deputy attorney general. Justices could still intervene in her dismissal if there was a conflict of interest, for example, he said.
The Attorney General in Israel plays a slightly different role than in the United States. Ms Baharav-Miara, the first woman to serve in the role in Israel, is an independent legal adviser, not a political appointee. They represent the government but are also tasked with protecting public interest and checking state encroachment.
Threat of dismissal Ms. That could have a chilling effect on the independence of all government legal advisers, including Baharav-Miara, said Guy Lurie, a research associate at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based research group.
In recent months, Mr. Baharav-Miara is Mr. Scrutinizing the Judiciary. Netanyahu has been sharply critical of his broader plans. He has blocked ultranationalist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from firing a police commander and Mr.
Mr. Netanyahu’s allies call Ms Baharav-Miara a bureaucrat, forcing her will on the country’s elected leaders. Opponents of judicial overhaul Ms. Baharav-Miara sees in the face of a ruling coalition composed of staunch nationalists and religious conservatives who stand for democracy and the rule of law.
Mr. Netanyahu and his Likud party have repeatedly denied that they intended to fire Ms Baharav-Miara. But that hasn’t stopped her allies and even some senior Likud members from calling for her dismissal.
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 last month, Likud Minister Shlomo Karhi said the attorney general should be removed from his post immediately, saying the only thing stopping the move was “the whole issue of the doctrine of reasonableness.”
Moshe Lauder, a former top prosecutor, said the Supreme Court still had other tools at its disposal to overturn efforts to dismiss Ms. Baharav-Miara. But he said the broader judicial overhaul was aimed at weakening or replacing the attorney general, which could benefit Mr. Netanyahu’s corruption trial.
