Zain Khalil / Anadolu

The Israeli Knesset, Wednesday evening, finally approved a law aimed at reducing the powers of the government's legal advisor, after passing its second and third readings.

The main clause of the law, passed with a majority of 61 members against 51, is the cancellation of the binding nature of legal opinions issued by the government's legal advisor, turning them into non-binding recommendations, according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

The newspaper said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was absent from the voting session, as he did during votes on other laws passed by the Knesset this week as part of a 'legislative marathon' linked to a political deal with the Haredi parties.

It added that the Haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism voted in favor of the law as part of the same deal with Netanyahu.

The newspaper explained that the Knesset passed, on Monday, the Basic Law on Torah Study, and then on Tuesday approved a law freezing the detention of Haredi draft dodgers.

However, the Israeli Supreme Court, the highest judicial authority in the country, issued an order on Wednesday freezing the latter law, according to the same source.

For its part, the private Israeli channel 12 said that the Israeli Association for Civil Rights filed a petition with the Supreme Court against the law reducing the powers of the government's legal advisor.

The association considered in its petition that the law 'poses a danger to human rights, weakens the rule of law, and undermines the first line of defense against the illegal use of governmental powers.'

According to Channel 12, the law stipulates dividing the powers of the government's legal advisor between two separate positions.

It explained that the first position is a legal advisor to the government, who will provide legal advice and represent the state in civil cases, while a state attorney will have exclusive responsibility for criminal cases and the prosecution.

According to the channel, the law grants the Minister of Justice the authority to decide on any disputes regarding the distribution of competencies between the two positions.

It added that the government will appoint the legal advisor based on a recommendation from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice, and his term of office will be tied to the term of the government that appointed him.

The law also grants the government the right to dismiss the legal advisor if it finds differences that hinder cooperation with him, or due to misconduct, or his refusal to perform his duties, or if a criminal investigation is opened against him, according to the same source.

The law requires the legal advisor to assist the government in implementing its policies, and allows it to consider that his legal opinion on a particular matter does not reflect the law from its perspective.

According to the channel, the government also has the right to appoint a lawyer from outside the government apparatus to represent the state, if the legal advisor cannot present its position, or if it sees that he does not represent it appropriately.