Israel: attorney general calls Netanyahu government decisions ‘confused’

Israel’s attorney general has criticised the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that its decisions are “confused” and “flawed” which could lead eventually to war. Gali Baharav-Miara made her comments in a sharply-worded letter to Netanyahu on Tuesday.

“For some time, significant government decisions were made with flawed work processes,” she said. “This, without them being pre-empted by professional staff work; while having them passed to relevant bodies for comment just before or during government meetings, in a manner that enables neither the professional bodies nor the ministers to fulfil their role and duty; and also based on unauthorised legal opinions, whether by private elements or the government secretary.”

The attorney general explained that the Netanyahu government had been warned in the past against disrupting government work processes and of the unravelling of rules that regulate the government’s work, adding that this has recently reached an extreme point.

She gave as an example the government’s decision on 30 April, in which it gave itself the right to have a private attorney represent all of the government ministries in a High Court of Justice hearing on the issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews for army service, which was later overturned by the court.

In her letter, Baharav-Miara gave another “severe” example in which the government secretary, Yossi Fuchs, gave a legal opinion in a letter on 31 July, with “serious ramifications in the security realm.” She did not elaborate, but stressed that Fuchs had not been authorised to give such opinions.

“A central duty of the government secretary is to ensure that the government makes decisions while maintaining proper and systematised work procedures, for the benefit of the public,” said the attorney general. “This would have prevented a significant portion of the failures that occurred.”

She also addressed the fear of steps that could lead to war and decisions being made without the political-security cabinet convening. “The result is a violation of the law and harm to the public. Rules are being broken, and things must be put back in order.”

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