Smotrich attacks AG, rule of law in dramatic Knesset committee hearing

Opposition accuses coalition of dismantling checks on power in debate about bill to split AG’s role; finance minister blames her, previous government for Arab crime surge

A tumultuous Knesset committee hearing on Monday showcased the coalition’s escalating confrontation with Israel’s legal institutions, as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich railed against the attorney general and judicial oversight, and dismissed concerns about weakening democratic safeguards.

Over hours of shouting matches and personal confrontations in the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, Smotrich accused Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of being a dictator, blamed both her office and the previous government for the surging homicide rate in Arab communities, dismissed concerns over weakening checks on executive power, and declared that “there is no such thing as illegal [settlement] outposts.”

The explosive meeting was one of several marathon sessions being held this week as the coalition pushes ahead with a blitz aimed at advancing contentious legislation before expected proceedings to dissolve the Knesset and trigger early elections.

At the center of Monday’s debate was a controversial bill co-sponsored by Constitution Committee chair MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism) that would split the attorney general’s role into three separate positions, a move critics warn would significantly weaken one of the main checks on government power at a particularly acute moment, as Israel appears headed toward elections.

Rothman announced that the committee will vote Tuesday on advancing the legislation to the plenum for its first reading, after the committee merged 10 separate private bills into Rothman’s version of the legislation.

“Very soon we will restore Israel to being a democratic state and end the dictatorship of the attorney general,” Smotrich, who chairs the far-right Religious Zionism party, told the committee, vowing to “make Israel once again a country in which legal advisers advise, and the government can govern.”

“What checks and balances does the government have?” Yesh Atid MK Yasmin Fridman asked the minister. “If [the government] is not bound by the opinion of any legal adviser, what checks and balances exist? What will protect citizens from a government when there is nothing to stop it?”

Rather than answer directly, Smotrich asked Fridman instead whether she “know[s] of another country in the world where the government is bound to [the opinion of] the attorney general,” calling the current system akin to a “dictatorship” by the attorney general.

Opposition lawmakers shot back that other democracies have stronger institutional safeguards, including a constitution, clearer separations between branches of government, and independent parliamentary bodies, all of which Israel lacks.

When Fridman pressed Smotrich on what meaningful checks on executive power would remain under the proposed legislation, he ironically pointed to “judicial review by the courts,” drawing derisive responses from opposition lawmakers, who noted that his government has spent years seeking to weaken and delegitimize the judiciary, including through the very legislation under discussion.

Beyond splitting the attorney general’s role into three separate positions, lawmakers also sparred over provisions in the legislation that would significantly raise the threshold for investigating senior public officials, in an effort critics say is intended to shield them from scrutiny and weaken oversight.

According to the current draft, opening a criminal investigation into the prime minister, a minister, a lawmaker, a judge, and other senior officeholders would require approval from a district court, followed by a special three-member committee.

Representatives of the police, the Justice Ministry, and the Knesset committee’s legal advisory team warned that the proposed mechanism could undermine law enforcement and complicate investigations into senior officials.

Rothman defended the provisions as necessary oversight over prosecutorial authorities, arguing that elected officials must be able to “carry out their duties without fear.”

Opposition lawmakers countered that the measures were designed to shield elected officials from criminal scrutiny.

Yesh Atid MK Yoav Segalovitz, a former deputy public security minister and retired police major general, said that such measures were clearly intended to “destroy and dismantle” anti-corruption safeguards while granting “an unjustifiable advantage” to senior elected officials.

Evading responsibility and scrutiny

The hearing repeatedly returned to opposition lawmakers’ argument that efforts by Smotrich and the wider coalition to weaken the attorney general’s role were part of a larger attempt to remove institutional constraints, evade accountability for the government’s own failures, and prevent legal scrutiny.

The clashes later expanded beyond the legislation itself, with opposition lawmakers accusing Smotrich of seeking to weaken legal oversight in order to advance settlement expansion in the West Bank that would otherwise face legal hurdles, and of a blatant aversion to the rule of law.

“Smotrich does not hide his intentions,” Democrats MK Gilad Kariv said, accusing the finance minister of working “day and night” to bring about the collapse of the Palestinian Authority and enable Israel’s annexation of the territory.

Kariv argued that Smotrich had illegally frozen fund transfers to the Palestinian Authority without cabinet approval, warning that the finance minister was exploiting rampant settler violence in the West Bank to “dispossess Palestinian residents” and “ignite a third intifada.”

Far from rejecting the criticism, Smotrich sarcastically thanked Kariv for the “praise,” and boasted of leading “a great revolution in Judea and Samaria.”

In a remark that appeared to encapsulate his broader dismissal of legal constraints on settlement activity, he declared, “There is no such thing as illegal outposts.”

“There is,” Kariv shot back. “Sir, you are in the Constitution Committee. Here, the law still has some meaning.”

The same tensions resurfaced when the discussion shifted to surging violent crime in Arab communities, following the overnight shooting of Jadeidi-Makr Mayor Suheil Milhim and his deputy Obaid Obaid, which Smotrich blamed on Attorney General Baharav-Miara and the previous government led by prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, despite homicide rates in Arab society soaring under the current coalition.

“At a time when crime is rampant, this corrupt system is dealing with foolish investigations,” Smotrich said, accusing Baharav-Miara without evidence of “covering” for former military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who leaked footage relating to allegations of IDF reservists severely abusing a Palestinian security detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility in 2024, in what he dismissed as an “antisemitic blood libel.” He also accused her of “persecuting” Shin Bet chief David Zini and nominated Mossad head Roman Gofman, whose candidacy she has opposed.

The finance minister also repeated unsubstantiated claims that funds transferred to Arab municipalities under the previous government reached “crime and terror organizations,” even though the homicide rate in the Arab community was then significantly lower than under the current government.

In 2023 — the government’s first full year in office — homicides in Arab society surged to more than 240, more than double the toll recorded in 2022, which had itself been the deadliest year on record at the time. The number has risen each year since, and last year reached a record of 252 killings.

Opposition lawmakers repeatedly accused the finance minister of deflecting blame to evade responsibility for the government’s own failures, with Segalovitz, who served as deputy public security minister in the previous government, dismissing Smotrich’s remarks as “a pile of nonsense and malice.”

“Let the public not be confused — you did nothing,” Segalovitz said, accusing the government of presiding over a “total collapse” of law enforcement and failing to tackle violent crime in Arab communities.

The same pattern of deflection and confrontation surfaced again later in the hearing, when, in a dramatic moment, Smotrich failed to recognize Danny Elgart, whose brother, Itzik Elgarat, was abducted during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre and later murdered in captivity.

“There is no other country in the world that abandons its hostages,” said Elgarat, directly addressing the finance minister, who was seated next to him.

In response, Smotrich asked Elgarat who he was, prompting outrage from lawmakers and Elgarat himself, who replied: “My brother was murdered because of you, and you don’t know who I am? Shame on you.”