Former top Israeli legal officials oppose judicial reforms

Former Israeli top legal officials spoke out Thursday against sweeping reforms to the country’s justice system planned by the new conservative government, lending their voices to a growing outcry against the proposed overhaul.
Seven former attorneys general who have served in the post throughout the last five decades signed a letter of protest, along with four other former senior legal officials. Three of the former attorneys general were appointed under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose current justice minister is spearheading the legal reforms. The letter, published in Israeli media, denounced the proposed changes, saying they are destructive to the country’s legal system.
The former officials said the reforms would turn the Supreme Court, often the last recourse for Israelis and Palestinians seeking to challenge what they see as discriminatory policies, into a “pseudo-political body that would be suspected of bending the law in favor of the government.”