Attorney general warns Knesset committees abusing power, threatening civil servants |
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Thursday warned that Knesset parliamentary committees are being misused to interfere with ongoing criminal investigations and that committee members regularly direct threatening and degrading rhetoric at public servants appearing before the committees.
In a series of letters sent to the Knesset legal advisor, state prosecutor, and the government’s legal advisors, Baharav-Miara said that representatives of the judicial system were particularly being singled out.
The attorney general warned that both such behavior creates a “chilling effect on civil servants, deterring them from expressing their professional opinions and leading to substantial flaws in Knesset discussions and legislative processes.”
In the letter, Baharav-Miara called on legal advisors to act “without delay” to address these issues, adding that she and her office staff are available to the Knesset “for any discussion you deem appropriate to conduct on the matter.”
“We will not accept this reality,” she stressed.
This letter follows an earlier letter sent by Baharav-Miara to Knesset Legal Advisor Sagit Afik on Wednesday about concerns regarding the conduct of Knesset parliamentary committees.
“Under the guise of exercising the Knesset’s oversight powers,” she wrote, “law enforcement agencies are invited to discussions concerning specific investigations and are even required to provide information and documents relating to ongoing criminal proceedings.”
Baharav-Miara reiterated that such conduct is “an abuse of the Knesset’s oversight power, and does not align with the principle of separation of powers.”
She argued that these practices are deeply harmful and are being used to influence pending criminal proceedings, obstruct investigations, and deter........