Heroine or Public Enemy? The Israeli Blocking Much of Netanyahu’s Agenda.

Her admirers see her as a solitary heroine, standing in the way of Israel’s most right-wing and religious government as it pushes the country toward authoritarianism. Her detractors see her as a public enemy, blocking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to supercharge majority rule and rein in a power-mad, left-leaning judiciary. What no one disputes is that Gali Baharav-Miara, 67, the first woman to serve as the attorney general of Israel, has almost single-handedly defeated many of the government’s efforts to undercut the Supreme Court, crack down on the news media and free itself of some of the biggest checks on its own power. Now, Ms. Baharav-Miara is girding for what could be her biggest battle yet as the country heads into elections next month, in which coalition lawmakers promise to overwhelm her resistance to their agenda if they are re-elected. Image Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an event for his party on Thursday. Ms. Baharav-Miara has warned that more than who will be the next prime minister is hanging in the balance of the elections. Credit... Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The Israeli police, who are overseen by the extremist right-wing minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, are increasingly seen by critics as serving his political interests. Officers have been videotaped roughing up left-wing protesters and going relatively easy on pro-government demonstrators . We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .