Likud minister calls attorney general ‘the most dangerous person’ in Israel
In Knesset speech, David Amsalem says Gali Baharav-Miara poses real threat to democracy; opposition leaders pan remarks as dangerous incitement, call for him to be fired
Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem on Wednesday declared that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara was “the most dangerous person” in Israel and a clear threat to democracy.
Opposition leaders responded with outrage, accusing the firebrand Likud member, who also serves as a minister in the Justice Ministry, of dangerous incitement against the attorney general, and calling for his dismissal.
Amsalem made the remarks as he addressed the Knesset plenum hall in a speech criticizing Baharav-Miara for what he described as apathy toward law-breaking action by protesters against the government’s controversial plan to overhaul the judiciary.
His comments came a day after Baharav-Miara alleged in a bombshell speech that pressure had been exerted on her office to take specific action in criminal cases being managed by the State Attorney’s Office and in investigations.
In his address, Amsalem accused Baharav-Miara of shielding protesters from prosecution.
The minister pointed to widespread “chaos” the day before, when anti-overhaul protesters blocked roads and disrupted train services while, he said, the attorney general “doesn’t see anything.”
“In my opinion, she is the most dangerous person in the country today,” Amsalem said. “In practice, there is a revolt going on in the IDF, and the attorney general doesn’t see, doesn’t hear.”
Amsalem was referring to a growing number of military reservists who are threatening to cease volunteering in key, sensitive security roles — including air force pilots — if the overhaul legislation process continues, as well as others who have said they will not turn up for their mandatory reserve duty.
“We should have removed her already,” Amsalem said. “This damages security. In my opinion, that lady poses a real danger to the stability of a democratic Israel. Remove her, and suddenly you’ll see that everyone who breaks the law being punished according to the law.”
Amsalem also panned Baharav-Miara over her appearance along with other leading judicial and law enforcement officials at last week’s cabinet meeting, where they were summoned to clarify their legal position regarding law enforcement at demonstrations.
“We summoned her last week to the cabinet meeting. She came with the state attorney, the whole gang,” Amsalem said. “She made a joke out of it, humiliated the government.”
In response, Opposition Leader MK Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid accused Amsalem of instigating the incitement against Baharav-Miara that has resulted in the Shin Bet security agency assessing she is facing the highest level of threat to her safety.
“If you wondered why, here is the answer,” Lapid tweeted and posted a video clip of Amsalem making his remarks to the Knesset.
Opposition National Unity party leader MK Benny Gantz tweeted, “In a civilized country, Amsalem would have issued an apology or been fired, but in [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s extremist government, incitement and bloodletting of gatekeepers and their portrayal as enemies have become commonplace.”
Gantz called on Baharav-Miara “to persevere in her role without fear.”
Labor party leader Merav Michaeli, also in the opposition, blamed Netanyahu for Amsalem’s behavior.
“He is the hand that wags Amsalem and the other mouthpieces,” she wrote. “They are just his long arm that allows him to continue to smile in a stately manner and at the same time gallop on with the coup laws that will extract him from the [defendant’s] dock.”
Amsalem remained unrepentant in the face of the criticism, later tweeting, “Say what you want, the right would never involve the IDF like this and harm the security of the country.”
He said that once the current political turmoil is over, “We will have to sit down… and understand how we came to be in a situation where there are pockets in the army where leftist groups are grabbing the country by the throat.”
Speaking to officials in the State Attorney’s Office on Tuesday, Baharav-Miara said pressure had been applied “against us to make certain decisions in concrete cases that you are managing or in investigative cases that you are examining.” She further alleged that pressure has been brought to bear on her office to adopt specific positions with regard to the formal opinions taken by government legal advisers under her aegis on government legislation and decisions.
Baharav-Miara was castigated earlier this month by members of the cabinet when she attended their meeting for what they alleged was the failure of her office and other law enforcement agencies to deal severely enough with anti-government protesters over the last six months. Some ministers called for her to be dismissed from her position, and Amsalem said Baharav-Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman should both be fired.
When, according to several Hebrew media outlets, Netanyahu reprimanded Amsalem for his comments, the latter retorted that the prime minister had “a conflict of interest” regarding the attorney general — an apparent jibe over Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial.
Protesters on Tuesday held another day of mass nationwide protests, as the coalition redoubled its efforts to pass legislation that would dramatically curtail the Supreme Court’s power to review government policies and appointments.
The contentious legislation seeks to prevent the court from using the test of “reasonableness” in evaluating decisions made by the government or elected officials.
Critics say the legislation is part of the government’s attempt to shield itself and its decisions from judicial review, enabling it to appoint unqualified or corrupt officials and oust technocrats it has deemed disloyal. Supporters of the move say it is necessary to correct the overreaching of unelected judges interfering with the decisions of a democratically elected government.
Earlier this month Amsalem called for the arrest of anti-judicial overhaul protest leaders and the ousting of Baharav-Miara.
