The government today (Sunday), at the last minute, introduced a dramatic item to the agenda of the weekly meeting - an amendment to the 'Government Work Regulations' with the aim of strengthening governance.
Finally, the government discussion on changing the government's work regulations was postponed until next week.
According to the proposal, the wording of which was not included in the original agenda and was not distributed in advance in envelopes to ministers, the influence of the legal advice to the government on the work of ministers will be significantly reduced, with the changes intended to effectively exclude legal advice from critical decision-making junctures.
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This step was seen as an attempt to circumvent the High Court ruling, which prohibited the removal of Attorney General Gali Bahar from Yara, by emptying her position of meaning and rendering it irrelevant.
The Legal Advisor to the Government, Gali Baharav-Miara, was quick, as expected, to express firm opposition to the move and stated that there was a "legal impediment" to its approval.
In a scathing letter sent by the Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Gil Limon, it was made clear that "the proposal is illegal.".
According to the attorney general, the amendment means that "the government is effectively abolishing the legal restrictions that bind it." Her warning stated that the move was intended to "free the government from the law" and allow it to make decisions in violation of the law.
Among other things, the Ombudsman warned that changing the regulations would allow the government to allocate budgets in a discriminatory manner and abuse its governmental power - all during a sensitive election period.
In a letter he sent on behalf of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon, he writes to Justice Minister Yariv Levin: "What the proposed amendments have in common is that their result is a fundamental change in the work of the government in a way that regulates the possibility of acting without legal advice. The aforementioned amendments are expected to lead, each in itself and certainly when accumulated together, to harm the integrity, efficiency, and professionalism of the government's work and open the door to the adoption of illegal government decisions.".
Limon added and claimed: "The meaning of the proposal is a serious harm to the public and a wide opening for illegal action by the government, for the abuse of the government's power and the unlawful use of budgets.".
What does the decision-makers' proposal include? According to the proposal, several changes will be made to the procedures for approving decisions and promoting government legislation:
At the heart of the plan that will be submitted for approval are four key changes:
Deadline for legal opinion: It is mandatory to provide an opinion on decision-making proposals within seven days. If the legal advice does not meet the schedule, the proposal will proceed even without the opinion.
Bypassing consultation in publishing regulations: Directors-general of government ministries will receive direct access to the government legislation website, and will be able to publish regulations, orders, and legal memoranda independently through it.
Quick publication in Reshumot: A law approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation will be published in Reshumot within 14 days, under the responsibility of the Director General of the Ministry of Justice.
Powers of the Government Secretary: The Cabinet Secretary will also receive access to make publications in Reshumot.
In addition to the procedural changes, the proposal includes the deletion of all sections in the statutes relating to the "alternative government" and "alternative prime minister" mechanism, which were previously enshrined for rotational governments.
The explanatory memorandum to the decision states that the new government work regulations will allow the government to operate "efficiently and effectively." It also states, with respect to the interim government, that the interim government mechanism is no longer "relevant" and therefore it is recommended that it be abolished.
In response to criticism about the deadline for changing the government's work regulations, the decision stated that in the first few months it was "under a lot of pressure" that became "tremendous with the outbreak of the war," and therefore the proposal that should normally arrive in the first few days is only now arriving.
The Ministry of Justice clarified upon unveiling the plan that these are steps intended to remove barriers and streamline work, and expected that the move would arouse opposition in the legal system.
