Hearings on ousting attorney general, top Arab MK both scheduled for July 14
Knesset to vote on expelling Hadash-Ta’al party head Ayman Odeh on the same day a ministerial panel discusses firing Gali Baharav-Miara before making recommendation to the cabinet
Two potentially explosive hearings on the firing of Israeli officials have been scheduled for July 14, in proceedings that could both set national precedents.
On that day, the Knesset will meet to vote on expelling Hadash-Ta’al party leader Ayman Odeh from parliament, while a ministerial committee is also scheduled to convene to hold a hearing on firing embattled Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
The Knesset on Wednesday scheduled the vote over the ousting of Odeh for July 14, after the Knesset House Committee voted 14-2 on Monday to impeach the top Arab Israeli lawmaker. The hearing centered on a statement Odeh made earlier this year that appeared to equate Israeli hostages held in Gaza by terrorists with Palestinian security prisoners held in Israel.
Removing Odeh from office would require 90 MKs to vote in favor, meaning close to 30 opposition lawmakers would have to join together with the coalition to support the move. Speaking with The Times of Israel, a Yesh Atid source said Wednesday that the party’s lawmakers will be free to vote as they see fit. Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party has not announced its position.
A law passed in 2016 allows for 90 MKs to vote to remove a colleague who expressed support “for an armed struggle” against the State of Israel. Since the law passed, no MKs have been voted out of office. An attempt to remove Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif failed in the Knesset plenum in February 2024 after only 85 of the 120 parliamentarians voted in favor.
Odeh on Wednesday promised to “stand firm” after Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana announced the date for the vote against him.
“We will stand against fascism, against Kahanism, against Jewish supremacy, against the occupation, and against all the anti-democratic forces that try to silence us and destroy our common space,” Odeh wrote on X. “We will stand firm. For equality, for freedom of expression, for democracy, for peace, and for a better future – for all of us!”
Meanwhile, a five-member ministerial committee will hold a previously delayed hearing on the same Monday to decide whether it supports the firing of Baharav-Miara.
The committee — which was established by the government last month to bypass the existing method for firing an attorney general — was originally scheduled to convene on June 17, a hearing that was canceled due to the 12-day Iran war.
Baharav-Miara’s husband, Zion, died just as the ceasefire came into effect, further delaying any efforts to hold the hearing.
The panel is chaired by Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli and also includes Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel and Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli.
The committee is tasked with providing its own recommendation after inviting Baharav-Miara to testify, and then passing its decision back to the full cabinet, which would need 75 percent of ministers to vote in favor of dismissing the attorney general.
It is not yet clear whether Baharav-Miara plans to attend.
Responding to the government decision last month, the Attorney General’s Office said that it was unlawful, and that it changed the rules of the dismissal process after the government had already embarked on the original process but failed to make headway. The existing method required the government to seek the recommendation of a professional statutory committee headed by former Supreme Court president Asher Grunis.
Petitions have been filed with the High Court of Justice asking the court to annul the resolution changing the procedure for firing the attorney general, and the court has given the government and other respondents until July 15 to respond.
The court stated, however, that if a hearing for the attorney general was set before that date, it would provide an updated schedule for the submission of responses to the petitions.
The government and the attorney general have clashed repeatedly over the last two and a half years, with the government claiming Baharav-Miara has unjustifiably thwarted the government’s policies and legislation, while the attorney general has argued she has merely restrained the government from acting illegally.
Several members of the government have indicated that they will ignore any High Court ruling seeking to intervene in the firing process.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.