Emergency regulations cannot be approved solely by the cabinet and must pass through regular Knesset procedures, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara said on Wednesday evening.
This follows the government's approval of emergency regulations providing methods to deal with severe cyberattacks. The decision was made during a phone consultation among ministers earlier on Wednesday.
The conversation occurred following an instruction by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following "political constraints" which delayed completing the legislation in the Knesset, Ynet reported.
These constraints were reportedly tied to the haredi draft bill and the threat by coalition partners Shas and United Torah Judaism, to leave the coalition, created these "political constraints," Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs told Ynet.
National Cyber Directorate Chief Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Karadi sent a letter to Fuchs on Tuesday, indicating that since the start of the Israel-Hamas War, there has been an increase in the volume and intensity of cyberattacks against civilians, which intensified further since the Israel-Iran War in June, Ynet noted.
This creates an urgent operational need to provide tools to address the cyberattacks, according to Karadi's letter.
Karadi's letter was influential in the cabinet holding an emergency vote, Ynet claimed.
Previous legal proceedings since start of Israel-Iran War
Notably, legal processes have occurred without emergency measures over the past month.
On June 23, the government enacted the Emergency Regulations (Additional Powers to Address Severe Cyberattacks in the Digital Services and Storage Services Sector), 2025, the government's official website confirmed.
This regulation included provisions such as mandatory reporting by communications providers of significant cyberattacks, assisting providers in understanding when an attack must be reported, mandatory notification of connected organizations about severe cyberattacks, knowledge and documents to examine whether a cyberattack against or involving a provider is considered severe under the law, and more.
Emergency regulations which had been passed on June 23, following Israel's attack on Iran as part of June 12's Operation Rising Lion, were originally to remain in effect until Wednesday, according to a statement on cybersecurity bills and regulations on the Justice Ministry's website.
Examples of rising cyberthreat
Cybersecurity firm, Radware, analysed the levels of cyberattacks on Israel, and found that there was a 700% increase in the amount of attacks on June 13-14, as compared to before June 12, the firm announced on June 15.
Additionally, the IDF's Home Front Command found on June 16 that many Israelis were receiving fake text messages falsely warning of potential terrorist attacks in bomb shelters and urging recipients to avoid using shelters until further notice.
These messages were sent from a spoofed sender labeled "OREFAlert," and were quickly identified as fake by Israeli authorities.