Deputy Attorney General warns government moving to neuter watchdog role

Israel’s Deputy Attorney General Gil Lemon has issued a stark warning about proposed legislation to weaken the country’s legal oversight mechanisms, arguing that the changes would essentially place the government above the law. According to Lemon, if the bill passes, “the government will not be subject to the rule of law — because it will determine for itself what the law is.” The comments represent an unusually direct intervention by a senior legal official into political debate and signal escalating tensions between Israel’s judicial establishment and the current government.

Lemon stressed that removing constraints on executive power poses a fundamental threat to citizens’ protections. “The public will have no guarantee for the protection of their rights,” he said. “The extreme weakening of the Attorney General’s office is the means to achieve unbridled governmental power.” The Deputy Attorney General’s remarks come amid a broader push by the government to reshape Israel’s legal and judicial framework, a process that has prompted significant controversy both domestically and internationally.

The Attorney General’s office has traditionally served as Israel’s chief legal advisor to the government and a key institutional check on executive power. The proposed legislation would significantly curtail these functions, removing longstanding protections and oversight mechanisms. Lemon’s intervention suggests the judiciary is increasingly willing to speak out publicly against what it views as threats to Israel’s democratic institutions and the rule of law.

The government has framed its legal reforms as necessary modernisations, but critics argue they constitute a dangerous concentration of power. The dispute reflects deeper divisions in Israeli society over the balance between executive authority and institutional checks, an issue that has dominated political debate for the past year.

Source: Ynet — Original article in Hebrew.