Israel's new judicial law could threaten the role of the attorney general

Critics of Israel's right-wing government's new judicial law fear it threatens an important state watchdog: Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

As Israel's chief prosecutor, Ms Baharav-Miara is also responsible for 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 prosecutors.

The new law, which limits the courts' ability to overturn government decisions based on whether judges believe they are "reasonable", could make it easier for Mr Netanyahu's coalition to eliminate Ms Baharav-Miara, legal experts have said. The government should meet lower standards to withstand judicial review, they said.

"If the attorney general were summarily removed, at least until yesterday, the main ground of challenge would be that it would be patently unreasonable," said Joshua Schoffman, Israel's former deputy attorney general. He said judges could still intervene in his dismissal if they found there was a conflict of interest, for example.

The Attorney General in Israel plays a somewhat different role than in the United States. Ms Baharav-Miara, the first woman to hold the position in Israel, is an independent legal adviser, not a political appointee. She represents the government, but is also responsible for protecting the public interest and controlling state excesses.

The threat of impeachment could have a chilling effect on the independence of all government legal advisers, including Ms. Baharav-Miara, said Guy Lurie, a researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based research group.

In recent months, Ms. Baharav-Miara has sharply criticized Mr. Netanyahu's broader plans to overhaul the justice system. She also blocked the dismissal of a police commander by Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultra-nationalist minister, and sought to prevent Mr Netanyahu's involvement in the legal dispute in parliament over his ongoing corruption trial, which she said created a conflict of interest.

Mr. Netanyahu's allies call Ms. Baharav-Miara a bureaucrat who imposes her will on the country's elected leaders. Opponents of the judicial overhaul see Ms Baharav-Miara defending democracy and the rule of law against a coalition government made up of hardline nationalists and religious conservatives.

Mr. Netanyahu and his Likud party have repeatedly denied plans to fire Ms. Baharav-Miara. But that hasn't stopped his allies — and even some senior Likud figures — from calling for his removal.

In an interview last month with Israel's Channel 12, Likud Minister Shlomo Karhi said the attorney general should be removed from her post immediately, saying the only thing stopping the movement "is this whole issue of the doctrine of reasonableness." reverse efforts to fire Ms Baharav-Miara. But the broader judicial overhaul is clearly aimed at weakening or even replacing the attorney general, he said, which could benefit Mr Netanyahu in his corruption trial.