Israel’s Brand of Chaos

American presidents choose an attorney general with whom they share a political affinity. Not so in Israel, where the AG is appointed for a six-year term and remains glued to their chair no matter how many elections occur during their tenure.

Binyamin Netanyahu, who returned to the prime minister’s office two months ago, is stuck with AG Gali Maharav-Biara, appointed ten months earlier by his political nemesis, Gideon Saar. Maharav-Biara vaulted to the top of a short list of candidates, without any public hearings, and the cabinet approved her appointment after less than 15 minutes of debate.

While the AG is supposed to be a “civil service” appointment whose role is to serve as legal counsel to the government, sometimes it appears as if she’s working against them.

The unelected Maharav-Biara has more power than Binyamin Netanyahu, whose Likud party received 1.1 million votes in the last election. Maharav-Biara forbade Netanyahu both from speaking out publicly about Israel’s proposed judicial reforms and from even discussing them in private with members of his government. She contends that Netanyahu has a personal interest in judicial reform, considering he is on trial for breach of trust and bribery charges. After President Herzog addressed the nation offering a five-point compromise plan, Maharav-Biara rejected Netanyahu’s request to comment on the plan.