High Court postpones debate over AG’s ban on Netanyahu from hiring Shin Bet chief

The High Court of Justice on Monday postponed a hearing for a petition against the attorney general’s position that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a conflict of interest in selecting a new Shin Bet chief and is barred from making the appointment.

Court president Isaac Amit said the Wednesday hearing could not be held since the courts are currently on an emergency footing, meaning only urgent proceedings can take place.

The hearing will be scheduled for next week instead, Amit determined.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin lambasted Amit’s decision in a speech from the Knesset rostrum, insisting that the court had no authority to intervene in the appointment and accusing the chief justice, and the court itself, of harming state security.

The High Court ruled in May that Netanyahu had a conflict of interest in firing then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar in March, due to criminal investigations the security agency was conducting, together with the police, against the prime minister’s close aides in the leaked documents and Qatargate scandals.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara subsequently issued a legal position paper determining that the court ruling meant Netanyahu had a conflict of interest in appointing a new head of the Shin Bet, and that he was therefore barred from making the appointment and must delegate his authority to another minister.

Her legal position has delayed the process for replacing Bar, leading Netanyahu to appoint the deputy chief of the Shin Bet, known only by the initial Shin, as its acting head.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin speaks during a Knesset plenum session, June 23, 2025. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

A right-leaning group of families bereaved by terror attacks called Choose Life petitioned the High Court against the attorney general’s position, claiming that it was harming state security by preventing the swift appointment of a Shin Bet chief.

Last week, Justice Noam Sohlberg accepted the petition for a hearing, writing that it needed to be held “as soon as possible,” sometime this week.

Speaking in the Knesset on Monday, Levin slammed Amit’s decision to delay the hearing, arguing that the appointment of a permanent Shin Bet chief during a time of war was an urgent issue that the courts are able to address.

The justice minister further alleged that the court’s very involvement in the appointment of the head of the security service was doing “mortal harm” to state security.

“Justice Amit’s decision today adds to the cumulative damage caused by the High Court justices to state security, and to the ongoing damage caused by Justice Amit himself in his repeated attempts to prevent the government from managing security matters,” declared Levin.

Taking to the Knesset podium, Yesh Atid MK Moshe Tur-Paz chastised Levin for failing to refer to Amit as the court president, and accused him of making divisive comments in the midst of a war.

Levin for some 16 months refused to hold a vote in the Judicial Selection Committee to elect a new president of the Supreme Court. Finally, the court ruled that he must hold a vote and Amit was selected, but ever since, Levin has refused to acknowledge Amit’s authority.

“I have news for you: Justice Isaac Amit is both a judge and the president of the Supreme Court, and just because you label him ‘judge’ doesn’t detract from the fact that he is president of the Supreme Court,” said Tur-Paz.

“The fact that the justice minister of the State of Israel denies this is outrageous in itself,” he said.