From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Ben Gvir hits back at AG over criticism, accuses her of ‘political meddling’ in police
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National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir shoots back at Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara after she accused the far-right politician yesterday of obstructing justice over his refusal to promote a police officer involved in Netanyahu’s corruption trial.
Mimicking the attorney general’s wording yesterday, Ben Gvir writes that her stern letter “raises serious concerns of improper interference” by the top legal official in the “professional procedures required ahead of police officers’ promotions.”
“This interference can only be seen as blatant and improper political meddling,” he writes.
Baharav-Miara yesterday accused Ben Gvir of factoring in political considerations in his decision to delay signing off on the promotion of Supt. Rinat Saban, a police investigator who received approval from law enforcement brass regarding her anticipated promotion late last year.
Between then and now, Saban had testified against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in one of his corruption trials, leading Baharav-Miara to accuse the premier’s coalition ally Ben Gvir, who oversees the police, of obstructing justice and witness intimidation.
In addition to her testimony against Netanyahu in March, Saban also investigated the premier’s advisers Jonatan Urich and Ofer Golan on suspicion that they harassed Shlomo Filber, a state witness in Case 4000 — the most serious of the three cases against Netanyahu.
Critics of Ben Gvir, legal experts, and the attorney general herself have accused the minister of using police promotions like Saban’s as a carrot-and-stick to shape cops’ decision-making and advance his far-right agendas via law enforcement.
The Times of Israel Community.