Israel attorney general warns of country's democratic backsliding

Israel’s attorney general warned on Monday of the country’s democratic backsliding under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, specifically regarding the judiciary’s independence and the executive’s disregard for court rulings.

Gali Baharav-Miara, who also serves as the government’s legal adviser, has clashed with Netanyahu’s government since it took office in late 2022.

“Given the approach of the end of the current Knesset’s term, a race has begun to eliminate democratic institutions,” Baharav-Miara said at a conference of the Israeli Bar Association on Monday.

She pointed specifically to two bills currently travelling through Israel’s parliament.

The first aims to split the attorney general’s powers by creating a “prosecutor general” position appointed by the justice minister.

The second bill aims to grant far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir more powers over the police.

Speaking at the conference in the southern Israeli city of Eilat, Baharav-Miara also denounced what she said was the government’s general disregard for court rulings, according to a statement from her office.

“In a situation where the government calls for court rulings not to be obeyed, the day is not far off when a court judgment will be perceived by the public as non-binding,” she said.

Baharav-Miara was referring in part to the government’s inaction in implementing military conscription for Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, who until recently were exempted from serving in the army.

Israel’s Supreme Court has repeatedly challenged the exemption in recent years, culminating in a 2024 ruling that the government must conscript ultra-Orthodox men.

Netanyahu, however, relies on the support of ultra-Orthodox parties to sustain his government and so has fought efforts to end the exemption.

“It is not possible, from a legal standpoint, to cooperate with a situation in which, on the one hand, the government increases the burden on those who serve, while on the other hand it permits mass draft evasion, and some would even say encourages it,” Baharav-Miara said.