Attorney general says Ben Gvir’s promotion of indicted cop ‘clearly illegal’
Gali Baharav-Miara tells High Court minister should not be allowed independent representation in legal fight over Meir Suissa’s appointment
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Thursday said National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s highly controversial promotion of indicted Police Superintendent Meir Suissa was “clearly” illegal and that he should not therefore be allowed independent counsel to fight a court order freezing the decision.
Ben Gvir decided to promote Suissa and appoint him as commander of the South Tel Aviv Police Station earlier this year, despite him having been indicted in July for negligent behavior over an incident in which he threw a stun grenade into a crowd of protesters during an anti-government demonstration in Tel Aviv in March 2023, injuring a woman.
Suissa was legally barred from stepping into his new role until a final court decision on the matter. Last week, Ben Gvir petitioned the High Court of Justice through his attorney David Peter, griping that Baharav-Miara had declared the appointment illegal, but would not allow him separate representation before the court for his position.
In a written position to the High Court Thursday, Baharav-Miara said, “This was an underhanded appointment, made in blatant violation of proper administrative rules, contrary to the appointment procedures used in the Israel Police while sidelining professional elements who were supposed to take part in it.”
“The illegality of the appointment is open and clear, therefore it is not an exceptional case that justifies a permit for separate representation,” the letter added. “This decision concerns the core of the powers of the attorney general, which are intended to ensure the operation of the executive authority within the limits of the law.”
The attorney general and her staff serve as the official legal counsel to the government and its ministers in legal proceedings in court. If the attorney general opposes the government’s position and refuses to defend it in court, the relevant minister can request independent counsel, but the attorney general can refuse the request.
In his petition, Ben Gvir’s representative wrote that “it is not enough that she doesn’t represent the position of the national security minister, but also joins petitions and opposes the position of the minister.”
“Not only is the attorney general acting here with a clear lack of authority, in intervening in appointments of police officers, but she’s also adding insult to injury by informing the court that she will not allow me to defend my position,” the petition read.
“This is another classic example, one of many, of the mafia-like attorney general who thinks she is the manager of the country. The one who received a mandate to serve as national security minister of the nation is I and not her,” the petition said.
Earlier this month, the Jerusalem District Court issued an interim order freezing the highly controversial promotion and appointment.
Judge Nimrod Flax wrote in his ruling that Suissa’s promotion was carried out “via a clear deviation from police regulations,” which required relevant legal and professional officials to evaluate the promotion before it could be made, a process that was not performed.
As such, the judge said the chances of the petition being accepted, and Suissa’s promotion and appointment being annulled, were “good” and that an interim order freezing Ben Gvir’s decision was thus justified.
Flax said this was especially important given that Suissa had been indicted and because of the general principle within the regulations of the Israel Police that an officer not be promoted if there are legal proceedings against him.
The judge also pointed out that former acting police commissioner Avshalom Peled, who recommended to Ben Gvir that Suissa be promoted, had not consulted senior police staff, despite former commissioner Kobi Shabtai having decided before he retired earlier this year that Suissa’s promotion be conditioned on the outcome of the legal proceedings against him.
Ben Gvir has praised Suissa’s actions during the anti-government demonstrations and defended him when the indictment against him was filed.
Critics have accused Ben Gvir of effectively taking over the police and subjugating the force to his control. The far-right minister called for heavy crackdowns on anti-government protests last year.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.
