Knesset approves first reading of bill to split attorney general’s powers

A bill to split the role of Israel’s attorney general passed its initial reading in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday (61-46).

The bill, presented by Knesset member Mishel Buskila of the New Hope Party led by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, was the first piece of legislation presented during the winter session of the 25th Knesset, which began on Oct. 20. The bill will now be deliberated in committee before being returned to the plenum for vote on the second and third readings.

Israel’s attorney general currently serves as both the government’s chief legal advisor and its top prosecutor. In this dual capacity, the attorney general provides legal counsel to the executive branch, while overseeing the Israeli Ministry of Justice and directing criminal prosecutions.

Supporters of judicial reform have argued that combining the two roles places too much power in the hands of a single individual.

Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin of the Likud Party, who, together with Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionism Party, led the coalition’s ultimately failed Judicial Reform attempt in 2023, welcomed the move, stating, “The attorney general has draconian and unprecedented powers.”

Rothman wrote after the vote that Israel has become accustomed to a judicial system of “unrestrained power,” which acts with impunity and without oversight and whose decisions are politically motivated, handcuffing the government instead of advising it—its true role.

“This is about to change,” the Knesset member added. “The State of Israel will no longer tolerate the harm to governance, security, various governmental systems and even the judicial system.”

He noted that his party had included splitting up the attorney general role in its platform in the last elections.

Sa’ar, in praising the decision, dismissed the opposition’s arguments to the bill as “not substantive,” including the claim that the legislation was carried out hastily.

“I will add that both the currently serving attorney general and the state attorney were well aware of my plan to carry out this essential move before their appointment to their roles,” Sa’ar wrote.

In the lead-up to the vote, Rothman posted to X a caricature of himself holding a saw and about to cut current Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in two, as Levin says, “We’re out of anesthetic.” Sa’ar looks on under the title, “Split.”