The Yachin Center for National Strategic Studies has published a comprehensive study showing that the powers of the legislative branch have been steadily eroded in favor of the Knesset Legal Department.
The study, written by researcher Haim Giladi under the direction of Noga Arbel, argues that the Knesset's legal adviser has exceeded the office's original role as a professional advisory body and has become, according to the study, a political veto player with de facto decision-making authority over the legislative process.
According to the report's findings, this process has led to a continuous expansion of the power of institutions that are not directly elected by the public. The authors argue that this has undermined the Knesset's status as the sovereign branch and weakened the ability of elected representatives to carry out the will of the voters.
At the center of the study is a description of the transfer of authority to the bureaucracy, among other means through the "institution of procedure and custom." According to the study, a mechanism that originated in the state's early years as a temporary solution for addressing gaps following written decisions of the Knesset Committee now also includes general and oral customs that were never adopted by the Knesset plenum and were never put into writing.
Nevertheless, the study claims that these customs now serve as a source of authority superior even to the Knesset Rules of Procedure. As a result, according to the report, the legal advisers' and bureaucrats' interpretation and recollection of these customs become binding norms for elected officials.
The study also points to lengthy and ambiguous language in the Knesset Rules of Procedure and administrative guidelines, which the authors argue creates a bureaucracy lacking transparency. This, they explain, has resulted in Knesset members becoming dependent on legal advisers and officials to advance legislation, while eroding their direct responsibility.
In addition to the bureaucratic obstacles, the study identifies a technological barrier within the Knesset's operational computer system, "Sanhedrin." According to the data presented, the system does not allow Knesset members to independently advance bills or make changes to them during stages that, under the Rules of Procedure, fall under their direct responsibility.
The study further claims that the technical permissions and the actual authority to move legislation to the next stage have been transferred to the Legal Department. Thus, the technological system becomes another mechanism that increases Knesset members' dependence on professional and bureaucratic officials.
In the legal and historical section of the study, based on an analysis beginning with Israel's Declaration of Independence and the first Transition Ordinances, it is emphasized that in a democratic state, the people are sovereign and that legal authority was delegated by them to their elected representatives. The authors state that they found no legal or historical source granting legal advisers or the courts the authority to limit the Knesset in the conduct of its work or to define the boundaries of its powers.
As part of the study, the authors warn: "If, in an attempt to solve problems in the Knesset's work, a decision is made to grant a non-representative body the authority to intervene in its activities, someone will inevitably make the decisions. If it is not the people's elected representatives, then it will be individuals who were not elected by the people - and they will harm the people's freedom even more."
To restore authority to the sovereign, the study presents a series of practical recommendations and structural reforms. Among other proposals, it recommends regulating the status of legal counsel through an explicit clarification in the Rules of Procedure or by law stating that professional legal advice is not binding on elected officials, and requiring that every legal recommendation be accompanied by an approved written source.
The study also proposes amending the access permissions in the "Sanhedrin" system so that Knesset members control their own legislative process, and establishing that a parliamentary custom will be valid only if it has been explicitly adopted by the Knesset Committee and put in writing.
In addition, it recommends abolishing the binding status of oral procedures and holding educational seminars, alongside publishing a binding summary for Knesset members and their aides outlining the existing powers available to them in carrying out their parliamentary duties.