AG says government’s new method for firing her is ‘fundamentally illegal’

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said a government resolution passed in June to change the way an attorney general is fired was illegal, in a submission to the High Court of Justice filed on Monday.

The decision is “fundamentally illegal,” and “contradicts the fundamentals of the rules of administrative law, as well as the rulings of the court, including recent ones,” wrote the Attorney General’s Office in its submission to the court.

In March, the government set in motion the process of firing the attorney general through a designated statutory committee. But in June, after it failed to convene a full quorum of that committee, it passed a cabinet resolution establishing a five-member ministerial committee to replace the old panel.

The attorney general’s comments on Monday were made in response to petitions by government watchdog groups asking the High Court to declare the government resolution void and to freeze its implementation pending a final ruling on the issue.

Baharav-Miara’s dismissal hearing in front of the ministerial committee has been scheduled for next Monday.

“This is a resolution of great impact and weight that was made without a factual foundation and without prior staff work, while deviating from a previous government decision without any reasoning, and while replacing an external professional-public committee with a political committee consisting only of ministers,” wrote the Attorney General’s Office in its filing on Monday.

The legal submission also noted that all five members of the ministerial committee who are supposed to give Baharav-Miara a hearing pending dismissal have already expressed their position that she should be fired, in a no-confidence statement the government issued in March.

In addition, the Attorney General’s Office pointed out that the new method of firing an attorney general was only adopted by the government after it failed to convene the professional committee that had previously been tasked with firing the attorney general.

This kind of decision — derided by critics as moving the goalposts during the game — is generally frowned upon by the High Court.

The government’s conduct meant that the new ministerial committee cannot conduct a fair hearing for the attorney general, the Attorney General’s Office argued.

“In this state of affairs, it will not be a hearing held in accordance with the law, but rather a hearing for the sake of appearance,” it wrote.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin in response accused Baharav-Miara of hypocrisy and of having a conflict of interest in her opposition to the new process for firing her.

Levin also alleged that the attorney general was “exploiting state resources to try and prevent her replacement, while having a clear-cut conflict of interest.”

The justice minister insisted that the cabinet resolution was “not only legal but also necessary,” adding that “the government deserves an impartial, professional, straightforward attorney general without a conflict of interest.”

According to the government resolution, which amended a resolution from 2000, the government can ask a five-member ministerial committee to oversee the removal of the attorney general, rather than consulting the statutory committee, which is made up of legal professionals and public figures.

The ministerial committee members, who are selected by the government, can give their recommendation and then pass the decision back to the full cabinet, which would need 75 percent of cabinet ministers to vote in favor of dismissing the attorney general.

The ministerial committee comprises Diaspora Affairs Minister Amihai Chikli, who is its chair; Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich; National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir; Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel; and Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli.

The government and the attorney general have been in conflict since the government was sworn in at the end of 2022, with the government accusing her of serially thwarting its policies and actions, and Baharav-Miara accusing the government of acting unlawfully and advancing unconstitutional legislation.