Justice minister seeks to bypass committee, oust attorney general with cabinet vote

Justice Minister Yariv Levin proposed a resolution on Wednesday to allow the government to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara with a 75% majority vote of the cabinet, thereby bypassing the statutory committee responsible for reviewing such removals, according to Hebrew media reports.

Levin informed ministers that the matter will be brought to a vote at the next cabinet meeting, saying the move was made “in light of the unprecedented crisis that has arisen between the government and the attorney general,” the reports said.

He added that heightened security concerns “require more structured and effective cooperation between the government and its attorney general.”

The move would bypass the statutory committee tasked with evaluating the removal of an attorney general before it is brought before the cabinet.

The existing government resolution determining the procedure for firing an attorney general stipulates that the justice minister must write to the five-member statutory committee “before bringing [the issue] to the cabinet.”

That committee must then give the attorney general a hearing, formulate its opinion, and submit it to the government, after which the government must also give the attorney general a hearing, before making a decision.

However, such a statutory committee is not currently fully formed, as the government has yet to find a former attorney general or former justice minister willing to participate in it, as required under the existing government resolution.

The justice minister argued that the crisis between the government and Baharav-Miara has made further consultations with the committee “unnecessary.”

The cabinet began the process of firing Baharav-Miara after voting unanimously in March in favor of a no-confidence motion against her.

Levin, who has spearheaded her ouster, said that the move was a result of what he alleged was Baharav-Miara’s “unfitting conduct” and the “substantive, and prolonged differences of opinion” between her and the government, which Levin said prevented effective cooperation.

She has countered that the government was seeking to place itself above the law, and to operate without checks and balances.

“The [no-confidence] motion does not seek to advance trust, but rather loyalty to the political echelon, not governability, but rather regime power without borders, as part of a broader process to weaken the judicial branch and deter the entire professional echelon,” charged Baharav-Miara.

“The government seeks to be above the law, and to operate without checks and balances, including at the most sensitive time, a time of emergency, anti-government protests, and an election period,” she concluded.

Like the decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar while he was investigating the so-called Qatargate scandal, the attempt to oust Baharav-Miara is certain to be challenged before the High Court. It is unclear how long the entire dismissal process could take, since it has never happened before.

The bid to fire her is the latest in a series of steps by the government that critics say are undermining the rule of law in Israel, including the prime minister’s March firing of Bar and the rapid advance of contentious legislation to change the way Israel chooses its judges as part of a rejuvenated effort to overhaul the judiciary.

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 the measures taken by the government contravened the law and undermined the rule of law in different ways.