AG scolds Netanyahu for ‘improper’ cabinet decision-making; PM hits back

Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on February 8, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, November 2, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on February 8, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, November 2, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara issues renewed criticism of what she describes as the government’s improper decision-making process, this time regarding the manner in which a cabinet decision was taken on October 10 regarding the placement of mobile bomb shelters in illegal West Bank outposts.

In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the attorney general says that Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs read out the resolution that authorized the finance minister, the settlements and national projects minister, and the Negev, Galilee, and national resilience minister to pool resources in order to fund and erect the mobile shelters in the West Bank outposts, in accordance with recommendations by the IDF Central Command.

Baharav-Miara says the resolution was not put on the cabinet’s agenda, did not received professional scrutiny from the security services, and had not been presented to the cabinet ministers with the budget impact assessment and legal position paper necessary for such decisions.

She adds that the resolution was read out after there was no more time for cabinet deliberations, and that a vote was held in a matter of minutes.

“Because of the errors in the [cabinet] work process, it must be underlined that the determination of if and where the security establishment would erect security components is not a political decision and is not sanctioned by ‘pooling resources,'” the attorney general says, scolding the prime minister.

She insists that such decisions are in the purview of professional officials in the IDF “as determined by a broad view of the array of risks in relation to all the country’s citizens, and the extent [of those risks],” and asserts that only the defense minister is responsible for such decisions.

“This improper behavior in relation to these sensitive issues is likely to harm security needs,” Baharav-Miara adds, calling the resolution “empty” and telling Netanyahu that it should be “filled up” with the relevant professional and legal input in order to “enable its legal implementation.”

In response, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) accuses Baharav-Miara of making a “series of claims disconnected from reality,” and insists that the decision-making process was lawful, saying that the proposal was debated in cabinet back on October 1.

The PMO adds that, following observations made by the defense minister regarding the resolution, Netanyahu gave instructions for the proper “staff work” to be completed by the next cabinet meeting, work which it says was completed.

“We are saddened by the fact that the attorney general chooses to deal with empty claims when lives are at stake,” the statement concludes.

The attorney general has repeatedly accused Fuchs and the cabinet of violating proper procedure to circumvent legal obstacles to decisions it wished to pass, going so far as to state that such practices were part of the government’s judicial overhaul agenda to disregard the necessity of legal approval for government action.

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