Cabinet unanimously reappoints Ben Gvir as police minister, ignoring AG’s objections
Move by ministers to bring Otzma Yehudit back into coalition expected to win Knesset support Wednesday despite concerns over far-right firebrand’s disregard for court rulings
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet voted late Tuesday to reappoint far-right politician Itamar Ben Gvir as national security minister, after Israel’s resumed offensive in Gaza paved the way for the firebrand’s return to the governing coalition.
Ben Gvir, who took his Otzma Yehudit party out of the government in January to protest the ceasefire, won unanimous support from the cabinet, Netanyahu’s office said.
In voting to appoint Ben Gvir to his old position of minister in charge of policing, cabinet members disregarded Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who had advised Netanyahu that doing so would not be possible from a legal perspective.
The decision to defy Baharav-Miara marked the latest point of contention between the government and its top jurist, who has faced near-constant criticism and calls for her firing, particularly from Ben Gvir.
The cabinet also voted unanimously to reappoint Otzma Yehudit MK Amichai Eliyahu as heritage minister and Yitzhak Wasserlauf as Negev, Galilee and national resilience minister, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a short statement shortly after midnight.
The Knesset was expected to green-light the appointments on Wednesday. Activists are expected to file a slew of High Court petitions against Ben Gvir’s appointment, likely citing occasions in which he apparently violated court orders while serving in the post.
Ben Gvir and Netanyahu announced on Tuesday morning that Otzma Yehudit was returning to the government following the resumption of Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Hours earlier, Israel’s air force launched fresh raids in the Gaza Strip that targeted mid-level Hamas commanders, members of the terror group’s politburo, and its infrastructure.
“Together in strength, for the sake of the people of Israel,” Ben Gvir posted on X following the announcement on Tuesday afternoon, sharing a photo of himself with Netanyahu in the Knesset plenum.
Ben Gvir left the coalition in January because he was opposed to the ceasefire and hostage-prisoner release deal with Hamas, but said he would return if fighting resumed after the first stage of that arrangement.
But in a terse statement to the press later Tuesday, the Attorney General’s Office said that Baharav-Miara has told Netanyahu that “from a legal perspective, it is not possible to appoint Minister [sic] Itamar Ben Gvir as national security minister at this time.”
The statement did not provide further details, but Baharav-Miara’s concerns are thought to stem from Ben Gvir’s repeated intervention into operational police matters which the High Court had previously told him he must refrain from, and his politicization of police promotions.
The lawmaker has been accused of using the police to crack down on anti-government protests that do not align with his views, going so far as to publicly dress down senior police officials whom he thought had treated activists too gently.
In an opinion published in late 2024 following High Court petitions seeking Ben Gvir’s dismissal for violating the law and High Court rulings as minister, Baharav-Miara noted numerous acts of intervention by Ben Gvir into police operations. She also cited a letter by former police commissioner Kobi Shabtai that Ben Gvir had instructed senior police officers to disregard cabinet orders regarding the protection of humanitarian aid convoys on their way to Gaza.
“It appears that the minister is using his authority to make appointments and end the tenure of officers in a manner which constitutes illegitimate intervention in the operational running of the police,” Baharav-Miara wrote at the time.
Sa’ar castigates AG he appointed
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s offices published the text of the diatribe that it said he unleashed at Baharav-Miara — who he appointed in 2022 when serving as justice minister — during the cabinet meeting.
Sa’ar said he racked his brain to find a historical analogy for Baharav-Miara’s “conduct harming the government” before settling on Japanese “kamikaze” fighter pilots during World War II “who committed suicide on enemy targets.”
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi of the Likud denounced Baharav-Miara over her opposition to Ben Gvir’s appointment, saying her professional opinion “doesn’t interest anyone, especially not an elected government working in the name of the people.”
He claimed she would soon be ousted from office, noting Ben Gvir’s support for removing her.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin recently set in motion a process to fire Baharav-Miara, although it will likely take weeks before it can be completed, if at all.
The addition of Otzma Yehudit to the government will give Netanyahu’s coalition a measure of maneuverability as it seeks to pass a budget over threats from some Haredi lawmakers that they could torpedo the spending bill and bring down the government, if certain legislative demands are not met.
Prior to leaving the government, Ben Gvir — who has a history of clashing with his political allies — began voting against the coalition on important budget-related bills in the Knesset. This opposition forced Netanyahu to leave his hospital bed in December while recovering from surgery in order to cast a ballot to ensure that a critical bill was approved.
It remains unclear whether the party’s return to the government will bring about a reconciliation with MK Almog Cohen, who continued to vote with the coalition during his party’s time in the opposition — and has long been on the outs with his fellow Otzma Yehudit lawmakers.
The Times of Israel Community.