Netanyahu excludes top Israeli legal officials from cabinet meetings

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has prevented veteran legal advisor Shlomit Barnea-Farago from attending cabinet meetings since his extremist right-wing government took office early this month. 

The unprecedented exclusion was first reported by Israeli broadcaster Channel 13 late on Thursday. 

Crucially, Barnea-Farago is also a prosecution witness in the ongoing corruption trial of Netanyahu. 

The longtime leader, who was Israeli prime minister from 2009 to 2021 before returning to power in November, is on trial over three separate corruption including the receipt of huge financial gifts, and exchanging unfavourable news coverage for positive news coverage across print and broadcast media.

He denies all charges. Barnea-Farago has provided legal advice to Israeli governments for over 20 years. 

Israel's attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, has also been excluded from taking part in cabinet meetings, in another break from long-established norms in Israeli politics. 

"There’s an agreement with the attorney general that the Attorney General's Office will be present at cabinet meetings whenever either the government or the Attorney General's Office sees a need for it," said the prime minister's office in a statement. 

Israel’s top lawyer would only attend meetings "to deal with specific issues that the Attorney General's Office needs to address", said the statement.

The news comes amid the new government's fresh assault on the Israeli legal system, which has caused uproar across the Israeli judiciary. 

The president of Israel's Supreme Court said last Thursday that a judicial reform plan proposed by Netanyahu's government would crush the justice system and undermine the country's democracy.