The Legal Division

Examining legal considerations is an integral part of the decision-making process in the field of national security. Policy, security, and legal considerations are intertwined and they affect one another in a considerable number of the issues that reach the political echelon. 

 

The lawyers of the National Security Council's Legal Division are integrated—as experts in the legal field—in staff work and when preparing position papers and policy documents submitted to the prime minister and the government on matters related to foreign affairs and the security of the State of Israel, in accordance with the National Security Council Law—2008.

 

The lawyers of the Legal Division assist the National Security Adviser and the NSC division heads to coordinate the staff work for the government, the Ministerial Committee on National Security Affairs (the Cabinet), and for any other committee or ministerial forum headed by the prime minister on matters related to foreign affairs and security. 

In addition to their work as experts in the legal field, the lawyers are integrated into the NSC's political-security staff work, which includes mapping and formulating policy alternatives while clarifying the differences between the alternatives and their significance, and also, when necessary, formulating a reasoned recommendation for the chosen alternative, and performing inter-organizational and inter-ministerial staff work on behalf of the prime minister and the national security adviser on additional subjects.

The employees of the National Security Council's Legal Division coordinate legal staff work on issues relating to national security, and are integrated into such work when it is coordinated by other ministries. They represent the NSC in legal forums in government ministries, auxiliary units, the security establishment and Knesset committees on various subjects. They also handle the office's ongoing legal work, in accordance with the provisions of law, including the Civil Service Law and the Rules of Proper Administration.

As is evident from the nature of their tasks, the lawyers' work in the Legal Division is challenging and diverse, and requires, in addition to mastering the international, constitutional and administrative aspects of the law, an understanding of the environment and the strategic challenges Israel faces in the political-security and legal arenas, as well as an ability to work with relevant bodies, such as the IDF, the Israel Security Agency, the Mossad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Finance.