AG says Ben Gvir acting out of ‘ulterior motives’ in push to dismiss police chief Shabtai

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara instructs National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir not to hold a hearing on dismissal for Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, saying the summons he issued yesterday fails to provide adequate grounds for firing him.

Baharav-Miara says she believes the far-right minister is acting out of “ulterior motives,” noting in her letter to Ben Gvir that Shabtai himself told her this week that Ben Gvir “once again exceeded the boundaries of your authority regarding the Israel Police” and that shortly afterwards Ben Gvir summoned him to the hearing.

“The proximity of the timing raises serious concerns that under the guise of supposedly principled claims against the commissioner you are actually seeking to ‘punish’ him for seeking to prevent you from improperly interfering in the work of the police, all while you are acting, apparently, contrary to the express decision of the High Court of Justice,” the attorney general tells Ben Gvir.

Baharav-Miara appears to be referring to a High Court ruling in March last year in which the court ruled that Ben Gvir could not issue operational orders to the police regarding how to manage protests and the use of force during demonstrations.

The attorney general tells Ben Gvir that summoning the police commissioner to a hearing requires substantive evidence to justify such an “irregular step,” and said that the letter the minister issued in summoning Shabtai was insufficient.

“Therefore, there is a legal impediment to holding the hearing,” she concludes.