Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara warned on Thursday against a raft of legislation being proposed by the expected next government, saying some of the planned new laws would imperil the country's democratic principles, triggering a backlash from the Right.
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Baharav-Miara's comments set up what's expected to be a major clash between the next government led by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and buoyed by ultranationalists and ultra-Orthodox parties, and the judicial system, which could see its role as a check on politicians squeezed under the new legislation.
Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, is currently wrapping up negotiations on the coalition government. He has said he is a victim of a witch hunt by the country's legal system, but has said any reforms will be carried out cautiously.
The expected coalition has proposed a series of legal changes that include a law that would weaken the Supreme Court, allowing the parliament to overturn its rulings with as little as a simple majority in some cases. Critics say the move would endanger Israel's democratic ideals and upend the country's system of checks and balances by weakening the Supreme Court and concentrating too much power in the hands of politicians.
"Without judicial oversight and independent legal advice, we will remain only with the principle of majority rule," Baharav-Miara told a legal conference at the University of Haifa in northern Israel. "Democracy in name but not in essence."
She chided other laws being passed in a marathon legislative session in recent days, saying they could "disrupt the system of checks and balances between the governing authorities."
The laws, seen as essential to sealing the deal with Netanyahu's partners, would clear the way for a Shas leader Aryeh Deri, who was convicted on tax charges, to serve as a cabinet minister. They would also grant greater powers to two coalition members from the far Right over the police and various agencies in Judea and Samaria.
Netanyahu's Likud Party and its ultra-Orthodox and far-right partners captured a majority of seats in the Knesset, or parliament, in Nov. 1 elections, putting them in a position to form a new government.
Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir said the attorney general crossed the line. "She mistakenly believes that she is the real prime minister in Israel," Ben-Gvir said. "Any law that she opposes becomes a threat ot democracy; it's unfortunate that the attorney general does not take part in the delibrations on the pending legislation - where she would have discovered that the current law does not let the public security minister set the policy directives for the police and that all professionals believe this should be changed."
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