AG: Netanyahu can’t tap new Shin Bet head until court ruling’s ramifications are clarified

In a decision likely to arouse the ire of the prime minister and the government, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara tells Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he must refrain from appointing a new head of the Shin Bet or a temporary replacement until the implications of today’s High Court decision have been examined.

The High Court found that Netanyahu had a conflict of interest in firing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and that he should not have been involved in the decision to dismiss him.

Baharav-Miara says that as a result of this decision, Netanyahu cannot be involved in “any action connected to the appointment of a new permanent or temporary Shin Bet head,” until “a legal examination can be conducted” and its implications implemented.

She adds that in the coming days, her office will draw up instructions for how to appoint a new Shin Bet chief under the current circumstances to ensure the process is done correctly.

According to the Shin Bet law, the prime minister nominates a candidate to head the domestic security agency, and the cabinet confirms that choice.

The High Court ruled that Netanyahu had a conflict of interest in recommending that the cabinet fire Bar owing to the ongoing leaked documents and Qatargate investigations into the prime minister’s close aides, and should therefore not have been involved in firing him.

Because of the wording of the law specifying that the prime minister is the one to nominate a candidate to head the service, it is unclear how a new Shin Bet can be appointed while those investigations are ongoing.