Cabinet okays motion to let ministerial panel fire AG, ignoring warnings it is unlawful

In a highly controversial step, the cabinet approves a government resolution allowing a ministerial committee to fire the attorney general — a move that circumvents the previous procedure that required a professional, statutory committee to be consulted before such a decision can be made.

Earlier today, the Attorney General’s Office stated that the proposed new method of firing the attorney general would politicize the position, make the attorney general dependent on the government’s goodwill, and contravene previous High Court rulings, and would therefore be unlawful.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s office states that immediately upon approval of the resolution, Levin sent a letter to the five-member ministerial committee asking it to hold a hearing for Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and then issue a decision on whether or not to fire her. However, this is unlikely to happen before the matter is brought before the High Court of Justice.

Government watchdog groups have already said they will petition the High Court against the move, and it seems highly likely that the cabinet resolution will face serious difficulties in court, given the apolitical nature of the attorney general’s position since the founding of the state and the government’s move to circumvent the standing procedure.

If the court strikes down the motion, and the government attempts to move forward with the process anyway — as some ministers have suggested it should — the standoff could lead to a full-blown constitutional crisis.

Levin says removing Baharav-Miara from office is necessary due to “ongoing and substantive differences of opinion” between her and the government and the “absence of effective cooperation by the attorney general” with the government’s agenda.