AG: Netanyahu not in contempt of court, but can’t ignore conflict of interest rules

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not in contempt of court when he announced that he would involve himself in legislation to overhaul the judiciary despite a determination that doing so would be a conflict of interest.

But Baharav-Miara tells the High Court in response to a petition against Netanyahu by the Movement for Quality Government that the premier cannot ignore conflict of interest rules, despite attempting to carve out an exception for himself.

“From a legal point of view, a contempt claim must fulfill certain conditions, which are not met in the current situation,” she writes. “The position of the attorney general regarding the request does not change the prime minister’s duty to uphold the law and avoid acting in a conflict of interest.”

She writes that Netanyahu’s conflict of interest risk is greater than normal, rejecting his claim that he can help rule on how judges are picked but ensure that no judges picked by an altered judicial selection panel ever rule on his legal cases.

“Without determining relevant limits and implementing them, the prime minister could find himself in systematic and open violation of the law,” she writes.