The attorney general of Israel (, ''Ha-Yo'etz Ha-Mishpati La-Memshala'', ) heads the legal system of the

executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

and the public

prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

of the state. The attorney general advises the government in legal matters, represents the state authorities in court, advises in the preparation of legal memoranda for the government in general and the

justice minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in particular. Likewise they examine and advise upon

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...

s in the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

. Additionally, the attorney general is tasked with protecting the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

and, as such, entrusted with protecting the public interest from possible harm by government authorities. It is an independent appointed position, one of the most important and influential in the

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

, and a central institution in the framework of the Israeli legal system. Owing to the

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

tradition of the domestic legal system, the duties of the attorney general are not codified in law and have been born out of precedent and tradition over the years. In February 2022, lawyer

Gali Baharav-Miara Gali Baharav-Miara (; born 18 September 1959) is an Israeli lawyer who serves as the current Attorney General of Israel. Prior to that, she served as the Tel Aviv District Attorney for Civil Affairs, and as a consultant to the law firm Tadmor, L ...

received unanimous backing from the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

to become the first-ever female attorney general.

Duties

The attorney general has four main duties: # Head of the public prosecution system # Representative of the state in all legal proceedings # Chief legal counsel to the government # Representative of the public interest in any legal matter

History

In 1997 a commission in the chairmanship of the former president of the

Israeli Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...

Meir Shamgar Meir Shamgar (; August 13, 1925 – October 18, 2019) was the chief justice of the Israeli Supreme Court from 1983 to 1995. Biography Meir Shamgar (Sterenberg or Sternberg) was born in the Free City of Danzig (present-day Gdańsk, Poland) to E ...

, had been established for examination of the possibilities of the future legislation on the subject of the attorney general, and recommended that the official title of his or her position will be changed from "the legal adviser to the government" to "the chief legal adviser" to reflect his responsibility for ensuring the rule of law in all of the arms of government, and not only as an adviser to the government itself in matters of law. Likewise the commission recommended that the adviser will be appointed by the government according to the recommendations of a public commission, that will include five members: a retired judge of the supreme court, a former

or attorney general, a

member who will be chosen by the Constitutional Affairs committee of the Knesset, an attorney who will be chosen by the national council of the

Israel Bar Association Israel Bar Association (; IBA) is the bar association for all Israeli lawyers. History The Israel Bar Association was established by The Bar Association Law, 1961. The law went into effect in March 1962. The Association is organized as a cor ...

, and a legal expert in the subjects of civil and criminal law who will be chosen by the heads of the university law schools in Israel—in order to ensure the choosing of an appropriate person who possesses the fitting qualifications for the job. This recommendation regarding the selection committee was adopted in August 2000, but the recommendation regarding the title of the position was not adopted. It is customary that the decision whom to select for the legal adviser position out of the list of nominees that the public commission recommended is done by the justice minister whose selection is brought to the approval of the government, which usually approves the appointment. The manner in which the Attorney General carries out the duties assigned to his or her position is derived to a large extent from the personality of the person holding the position. Two of the legal advisers,

Aharon Barak Aharon Barak (; born 16 September 1936) is an Israeli lawyer and jurist who served as President of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1995 to 2006. Prior to this, Barak served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1978 to 1995, and bef ...

and

Yitzhak Zamir Yitzhak Zamir (; born in Poland on April 15, 1931) is a professor of public law and Dean of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Law, a former Attorney General of Israel, first Dean of the University of Haifa's Law Faculty, and a fo ...

, who came to the position from

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, were distinguished in the decisiveness that they demonstrated for the guarding of the rule of law in Israel, even when their ideas conflicted with those of the government.

Deputy positions

*Deputy Attorney General for consultation *Deputy Attorney General for legislation *Deputy Attorney General for Hebrew (i.e., Jewish) law *Deputy Attorney General for special assignments *Deputy Attorney General for civil matters *Deputy Attorney General for criminal matters *Deputy Attorney General for fiscal-economic matters

List of attorneys general

Comparison with government legal advisors in other countries The position of binding advice and representational monopoly in Israel is exceptional and even unique by global standards. According to Eitan Levontin, the legal situation in Israel is not a minority opinion, but rather a single opinion.

References

External links

Attorney General
on the Israeli Ministry of Justice website * Barzilai, Gad and Nachmias, Davi
The Attorney General: Authority and Responsibility

Israel Democracy Institute The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI; ), established in 1991, is an independent research center that defines itself as being dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy. It is based in Jerusalem. History The Israel Democracy ...

1997. *Bakshi, Avia
Legal advisers and the government: analysis and recommendations

Kohelet Policy Forum The Kohelet Policy Forum (KPF or Kohelet; ) is a conservative, libertarian, right-wing Israeli nonprofit think tank established in 2012 and run by founder and chair Moshe Koppel alongside Avraham Diskin, Avi Bell and Eugene Kontorovich. Its goal ...

, February 2016 * Bob, Yonah Jeremy; Hoffman, Gilbr>Shaked: "A-G has no veto over what is legal"

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...

, October 26, 2016

videos in Hebrew from Kohelet Policy Forum Conference The legal advisers and the government 7 October 2015
The Attorney General
25.09.2000 at embassies.gov.il {{Authority control Government of Israel