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Reuters
Reuters
Politics

Israel's attorney general: Netanyahu involvement in judicial overhaul is illegal

Israelis demonstrate during the "Day of Shutdown", as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, Israel March 23, 2023. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's violated the law by saying he would get personally involved in a judicial overhaul plan, the attorney-general said on Friday.

In the face of intensifying protests against the proposed changes, Netanyahu said on Thursday that he was putting aside all other considerations and would do "anything it takes" to reach a solution.

Netanyahu added that his hands had been tied, but a new law limiting the circumstances in which a prime minister can be removed gave him more space for maneuver.

FILE PHOTO-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

However, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, in a letter addressed to Netanyahu, disagreed.

"The legal situation is clear: you must refrain from any involvement in initiatives to change the judiciary, including the makeup of the committee for the appointment of judges, as such activity is a conflict of interest."

"Your statement last night and any action you take in violation of this matter is illegal and tainted by a conflict of interest," Baharav-Miara added.

(Reporting by Henriette Chacar; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)

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