appointment of senior civil servants

On March 16, 2025, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced his intention to bring the dismissal of Ronen Bar, the head of the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet), Israel's internal security service, to a vote of the full cabinet. Though not a perfect comparison, the Shin Bet is often seen as comparable to the FBI in the US.  

Against the backdrop of the proposed government decision that is meant to begin the process of dismissing the attorney general, this paper describes the procedure that has been laid down for this step and explains why a decision by the Netanyahu government to fire the attorney general at the current time would be legally invalid.

The battle over Israel’s legal system has resumed, threatening judicial independence.

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.