Lawmakers voted 65-47 early Tuesday morning to advance a pair of controversial bills that would curtail the power of the attorney general and make it harder to indict high-ranking government officials.

After passing their first plenum readings, the bills will return to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee for further deliberations ahead of the additional readings they must pass to become law.

The vote came after a lengthy overnight debate in the Knesset plenum, during which lawmakers also approved the first reading of a coalition-backed bill to dissolve the Knesset, potentially paving the way for early elections. That legislation will likewise return to committee for further preparation ahead of its remaining readings.

The legislation to weaken the role of the attorney general is the latest front in the government’s long-running battle with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, with whom it has clashed since its first weeks in office, in large part over its efforts to assert control over the judiciary and limit other checks on executive power. The High Court of Justice annulled the government’s decision to fire her on procedural grounds.

Even if not passed into law before parliament disbands, by approving the bills in a first reading, the coalition will be able to vote in the next Knesset to apply “continuity” to them if it wins the election, allowing lawmakers to resume legislative work without starting from scratch.

The first of the bills would split the attorney general’s role into three separate positions, effectively draining it of all authority and independence, in a move critics say is intended to weaken the office and remove a major check on government power, including during upcoming elections.

The controversial........

© The Times of Israel