Government to hold discussion on potential firing of attorney general on March 23
Next cabinet meeting will deal with attempted ouster of Baharav-Miara; Communications Minister Karhi asserts that after government approves move she’ll no longer have any authority
The cabinet will meet to discuss the potential firing of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on March 23, as the government pushes ahead with the almost unprecedented move that critics have warned will undermine the rule of law in Israel.
The discussion on Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s motion of no-confidence in the attorney general is set to be held at the next cabinet meeting. There will be no weekly meeting on Sunday due to the festival of Purim.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, one of those leading the push to oust Baharav-Miara, asserted that once the government approves a no-confidence move against the attorney general, she will no longer have any authority.
“No confidence in the attorney general” equals having been ousted or incapacitated, he wrote on his X account.
“From that moment there will be no significance to opinions she writes or advice she gives,” he said.
Last week, Levin began the process of removing Baharav-Miara from her post, accusing her of having politicized her office and repeatedly thwarting the will of the government.
Tensions have long simmered between the current government and Baharav-Miara, who was appointed under the previous one led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid.
The attorney general has repeatedly opposed the government over legislation it has proposed, as well as appointments it has made and actions it has taken, arguing on numerous occasions that its measures — including its divisive judicial overhaul agenda — have contravened the law and undermined the rule of law in different ways.
Levin has set in motion various bureaucratic processes required under the law to fire the attorney general.
On Sunday, the presidents of Israel’s eight research universities said their institutions will go on strike if the government fires Baharav-Miara.
In a letter, they warned “of the unprecedented danger to the rule of law if the attorney general is fired.”
To fire an attorney general, the justice minister must write to the five-member public committee that appoints the attorney general, detailing the government’s objections to the functioning of the attorney general.
The committee must then hold a hearing for the attorney general to allow her or him to present their position, after which it must issue a recommendation to the government on whether or not to dismiss them.
The government can ignore the committee’s recommendation, although that would weaken its decision if and when it were challenged in the High Court of Justice.
The current chair of the committee is former Supreme Court president Asher Grunis. Grunis opposed Baharav-Miara’s appointment when she was selected by the previous government, stating she was not qualified for the job, according to a report a year after she was chosen.
The process of firing Baharav-Miara could take months, and would be certain to be challenged in the High Court of Justice.
The judicial overhaul effort, of which Levin is an architect, divided the country and sparked mass protests in 2023. It was largely shelved upon the outbreak of war with the Hamas terror group, but parts of it have been revived in recent months, drawing opposition from the attorney general.
