Attorney General Baharav-Miara summoned to a hearing by new ministerial committee pending her dismissal

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amihai Chikli, who is head of the newly established ministerial committee for firing the attorney general, summons Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara for a hearing pending dismissal on June 17.

Chikli tells the attorney general that she will be given the opportunity to “lay out the arguments you might have” against the government’s intention to fire her due its claims against her of “unfitting behavior” and “substantive and ongoing difference of opinion between the government and the attorney general creating a situation that prevents effective cooperation.”

The government yesterday approved a cabinet resolution bypassing the existing procedure for firing an attorney general, which had required the government to seek the recommendation of a professional statutory committee headed by former Supreme Court president Asher Grunis before firing Baharav-Miara.

Instead a five-member ministerial committee will hold a hearing for the attorney general and recommend to the government whether or not to fire her.

Following the approval of the resolution yesterday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who is a member of the new ministerial committee, called on Chikli to hold the hearing this week, saying that “we will of course hear all the claims of the attorney general,” but adding that “a decision needs to be made as soon as possible.”

The Attorney General’s Office said yesterday that the resolution was unlawful, and that it changed the rules of the dismissal process after the government had already embarked on the original process.

The Israel Democracy Guard organization immediately filed a petition to the High Court of Justice asking the court to annul the resolution, and the court is expected to respond to that petition soon.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev (Likud) indicated earlier today that the government would not obey the High Court should it choose to intervene.

“I suggest that the High Court not pull too hard on the rope…  Because if they say no, we will say that’s enough,” Regev told a conference on women hosted by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

According to a report by Kan news, three other ministers along with Regev said during Sunday’s cabinet meeting that the government should not obey the High Court if it intervenes.