A July 20, 2026 PBS NewsHour report by Nick Schifrin, with producer Karl Bostic in Tel Aviv, examines the political landscape after the dissolution of Israel’s parliament set up elections in October. Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving leader, is facing questions about his handling of the October 7 attacks and their aftermath, alongside a standoff with …
Dozens of prominent Israelis — including two former prime ministers (Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak), former heads of the country’s security services, retired judges, a Nobel laureate, and leading cultural figures — have threatened legal action against the Israeli government over what they describe as state-enabled “Jewish terrorism” in the occupied West Bank, according to …
Israel’s two most senior judicial officials—Supreme Court President Isaac Amit and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara—issued stark warnings on June 1, 2026, accusing the governing coalition of deliberately working to dismantle Israeli democracy through its assault on the judiciary. Speaking at an Israel Bar Association conference, Amit, who has been boycotted by the government since his …
Gad Barzilai. “The Ambivalent Language of Lawyers in Israel: Liberal Politics, Economic Liberalism, Silence and Dissent.” In Fighting for Political Freedom: Comparative Studies of the Legal Complex and Political Liberalism. Edited by Terence C. Halliday, Lucien Karpik, and Malcolm M. Feeley, pp. 247-277, Oxford, U.K: Hart Publishing, 2007. This chapter argues that lawyers are inherently …
n a January 14, 2026 analysis, The Times of Israel reports that senior Israeli ministers have escalated personal and institutional attacks on the Supreme Court, framing it as an illegitimate “enemy of the people” rather than a check on executive power. The article argues this rhetoric is part of a broader strategy to delegitimize judicial …
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the government’s effort to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara was unlawful, reinforcing judicial checks on executive power. In a decision issued by a seven-judge panel, the Court held that the cabinet’s March no-confidence vote against Baharav-Miara was null and void because it bypassed the legally required procedure, which mandates consultation …
This article reflects on the global expansion of judicial review, emphasizing how courts—both in liberal and non-liberal democracies—strategically position themselves in shaping public policy.
This article introduces a symposium on Yoav Dotan’s Lawyering for the Rule of Law: Government Lawyers and the Rise of Judicial Power in Israel, a landmark study of how state attorneys can both constrain and enable government power.
The Israeli Cabinet voted unanimously to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, intensifying a power struggle between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the judiciary that critics warn threatens Israel’s democratic institutions. The Supreme Court quickly froze the move while reviewing its legality, after a watchdog group and more than 15,000 citizens filed an emergency petition calling …
This article examines reforms in disciplinary procedures and liability toward third parties, offering insights into the future direction of lawyer regulation in democratic societies.