High Court postpones hearing for petitions demanding Ben Gvir be fired for abuse of power

The High Court of Justice on Tuesday reluctantly agreed to postpone a hearing for petitions demanding the removal from office of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

The petitioners have asked that the court order Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Ben Gvir due to what they allege is the far-right minister’s unlawful influence over the policing of protests, police appointments, and investigations.

Netanyahu told the court on Monday he could not properly brief his lawyer on the issue due to the current wartime conditions, and said that a hearing should not be heard at all during a time of war.

A hearing had been scheduled for March 24, and Netanyahu requested that it be postponed to an unspecified date in the future, “subject to the security situation.”

The High Court partially agreed to the premier’s request, postponing the hearing but setting a new date to hear the petitions for April 15. Netanyahu’s lawyer has until April 14 to submit the final response to the petitions.

The change in date means that one of the nine justices on the panel, Gila Canfy-Steinitz, will not be present at the hearing.

She will be replaced instead by Justice David Mintz. Canfy-Steinitz is a moderate conservative, whereas Mintz is perhaps the strongest advocate for judicial restraint on the bench.

This may well heighten the likelihood of the petition being dismissed, on the grounds that the court cannot intervene in the prime minister’s discretion to hire and fire cabinet ministers.

In a statement acknowledging the postponement, Ben Gvir appeared to suggest that he will not comply with the High Court should it eventually rule that he must be fired.

“I am focused on the war, I’m focused on acting for the people of Israel. If some want to drag Israel into a constitutional crisis, they may get a constitutional crisis,” the far-right minister said.

Ben Gvir has previously said he would not comply with a potential High Court ruling ordering his dismissal and has urged Netanyahu to defy legal efforts to remove him from office.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who has herself called on the court to order Netanyahu to fire Ben Gvir, opposed the request to delay the latest hearing, due to what she said was the “severe and systematic harm” Ben Gvir is doing to police work even amid the current war.

“In light of the severe and systematic harm to police work that is currently ongoing, including in the most sensitive areas of enforcement, investigations and appointments, it is essential to have judicial review as soon as possible,” the attorney general’s representative told the High Court on Monday.

Earlier that day, Netanyahu’s lawyer, Michael Rabello, had said Netanyahu did not have time to meet with him to finalize his response to the court, due to the current conflict with Iran.

Rabello also said it was Netanyahu’s position that a hearing on the petitions should not be held during wartime, when “the national security minister is responsible for internal security in a time of war and participates in the highest-level security meetings due to his position.”

Netanyahu also repeated his argument that the court has no authority to order him to fire a cabinet minister.