In another politically tainted move that shocked Israel’s legal system, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, whose ostensible role is to serve as the government’s legal adviser, once again acted against the government on Tuesday by siding with a Supreme Court petition against a law passed by the democratically elected coalition members in March.

Baharav-Miara claims that the law, the Incapacitation Law, which prevents the Attorney-General from declaring a prime minister as “incapacitated” [unfit for office] except in exceptional circumstances, was passed in order to aid Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in his battle against his court cases [for largely trumped-up charges], claiming that the Knesset misused its authority in order to protect him “in contravention of court rulings.”

The law was passed as an amendment to a Basic Law and since Israel’s Basic Laws have constitutional status, the Attorney-General’s position of supporting the law’s invalidation is unprecedented. Most legal scholars, including former attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit, are of the opinion that the Supreme Court does not have the power to invalidate Israel’s Basic Laws. The Supreme Court would be very hesitant to review Basic Laws as striking one down could create a constitutional crisis.

In the unlikely event that the Supreme Court aligns itself with the Attorney-General’s position and the petition, which was filed by the left-wing Movement for Quality Government, and strikes down the law, it would be the equivalent of the US Supreme Court striking down an amendment to the Constitution.

The heads of the coalition responded by stating: “The Attorney-General’s response to the petition is yet another attempt to cancel the democratic choice of millions of citizens and transfer the authority to depose heads of government in Israel to unelected officials. Prime Minister Netanyahu was elected by over 2.5 million citizens and in a democracy, the citizens alone determine who will be the prime minister.”

“The forced attempt to tie the judicial reform, which is supported by millions of citizens, to the trial of Prime Minister Netanyahu, which has been ongoing for three years, is baseless and fundamentally false. The people, the Knesset, and the democracy will not accept this.”

Culture Minister Miki Zohar said: “There is no more anti-democratic move than trying to cancel a Basic Law that was passed by a majority of votes by members of the legislature elected in democratic elections. This is what acting against democracy looks like.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)