AG tells High Court Levin locking her out of shared office violates previous court order

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara argues that by locking her out of an office shared by her staff and that of Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the latter has violated a High Court of Justice ruling that the government must not alter its working relationship with the attorney general until the court announces whether Baharav-Miara’s firing is legal.

The lock switch was Levin’s latest attempt to kick Baharav-Miara out of the workings of the government after the cabinet last month voted to fire her using a newly introduced method, having failed to oust her using the existing legal mechanism. The High Court froze that decision immediately, instructing the government not to block Baharav-Miara from performing her responsibilities in any way in the meantime.

Levin, who has frequently clashed with Baharav-Miara, has nonetheless objected to her doing her job. After the vote to fire her, Levin’s driver called Baharav-Miara’s staff and instructed them not to use the office that Baharav-Miara and Levin share in Tel Aviv, prompting the Movement for Quality Government watchdog to file a High Court petition claiming this violated the previous ruling.

Earlier Sunday, Levin told the court that the office in question is his own private office.

In her court filing, Baharav-Miara doesn’t dispute that, but says the custom over at least the past decade has been for the attorney general’s staff to use the office on the days of the week when the justice minister’s staff doesn’t work from there.

She argues that the decision to halt that arrangement was unilateral and made with a direct link to the cabinet decision to fire her, adding: “The incident violates orders issued by the court, specifically the instruction not to alter the existing working relationship. It appears that the purpose is an attempt to harm the status of the attorney general and her professional work.”