appointment of senior civil servants

The proposed bill, which would change the selection process of the Ombudsman - responsible for investigating complaints about the conduct of judges and religious court judges - aims to intimidate judges and undermine their independence.

At first glance, the dismissal of Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant is not unprecedented – prime ministers hold authority to fire ministers, and Prime Minister Netanyahu has done so in the past. However, the circumstances surrounding the current dismissal are especially intense.

Downgrading the independence of government legal advisers is not among the highest-profile proposals to reform the Israeli legal system being advanced by Israel’s new right-wing government, but weakening the status of government legal advisers is actually an important and troubling part of the government’s package of proposed reforms.

Senior governmental positions remain unfilled as political bickering has delayed appointments. Israeli law lays out a clear process for how such appointments must be made and the government should do so without further delay.