Ben Gvir’s dismissal ‘will not happen,’ vows Netanyahu, bucking AG’s pressure

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly declared Sunday that he would not fire National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, sparking a tense exchange with Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon over the matter during a cabinet meeting.

The spat took place days after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said in a High Court of Justice filing that Netanyahu must be ordered to explain why he hasn’t fired Ben Gvir, accusing the far-right minister of systematically abusing his powers.

During the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs said there is no precedent for firing a minister without an indictment. To do so would “break the system” and signal “the end of democracy,” he claimed.

Despite the absence of an indictment, Limon insisted that Ben Gvir has harmed the independence of the police force over the course of his term.

“Last night, a citizen was shot in Tarabin and Ben Gvir didn’t investigate but immediately backed [law enforcement]. This is interference in an investigation,” Limon said, as quoted by Ynet, adding that it is “not the first time.”

The legal official was interrupted by Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel, who accused him of simply being “fed up” with Ben Gvir.

Netanyahu responded to Limon by calling his comments “simply embarrassing.” He vowed that the far-right minister’s sacking “will not happen.”

Ben Gvir, who was present at the meeting, turned the allegations of interference back on Limon, calling him a “criminal” for an email he sent regarding the Sde Teiman leak investigation.

“If we are [discussing] interfering in investigations, you are a criminal,” Ben Gvir claimed. “You interfered in an investigation you shouldn’t have in the case of the military advocate general.”

Ben Gvir accused Limon of interference for asking via email when the investigation would end, while having a potential conflict of interest in the case.

In December, Baharav-Miara endorsed petitions calling for Ben Gvir’s dismissal over what she characterized as his routine violation of a legally binding compromise the two agreed upon last year in which he agreed to strictly limit his involvement in police matters.

She has on several occasions accused the far-right minister of exercising undue influence over the police, a force meant to operate independently, without pressure from elected officials.

Baharav-Miara last week implicated Netanyahu in her High Court filing, demanding judges issue an interim injunction to” transfer the burden of proof” to the premier, which would force him to explain why Ben Gvir should be allowed to continue in his role of national security minister.

Among other things, she accuses Ben Gvir of promoting harsher policing against anti-government protesters; ordering police to refrain from protecting aid trucks bound for Gaza that were being attacked by right-wing Israelis; and unilaterally changing the status quo regarding the Temple Mount, which Muslims revere as the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and where Jews are prohibited from praying publicly.

Ben Gvir, for his part, has maintained that he is fulfilling the will of the voters who elected him and branded the attorney general a “criminal.”