AG says Netanyahu urging calm on legal shakeup doesn’t violate conflict of interest

19 February 2023, 7:59 pm

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Left: Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara at her welcome ceremony in Jerusalem on February 8, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90); Right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on January 11, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara issues a statement stating that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can make public statements calling for unity on the judicial overhaul without breaching his conflict of interest agreement.

Netanyahu is barred from directly dealing with the government’s radical plan, since it could affect the outcome of his corruption trial down the line.

But a public letter written by Baharav-Miara’s deputy Gil Limon says the conflict of interest agreement does not restrict Netanyahu’s ability to make “public statements the purpose of which is to keep public order and calm the situation among the public.”

Netanyahu’s office retorts that the premier “didn’t wait for the attorney general’s letter” and has been urging calm for weeks.