Coalition leaders said to agree on how to fire A-G; Smotrich denies spat with Levin over judicial reform

Coalition leaders have agreed on how to move forward with firing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, given growing calls in the government for her termination, according to Hebrew media reports.

The reports come after a fiery meeting of coalition leaders to discuss the matter of the attorney general’s ouster, from which Justice Minister Yariv Levin was said to storm out.

Meanwhile, Bezalel Smotrich denies that coalition leaders discussed legislation to revamp the judicial selection committee during the meeting, following reports that Levin had left after accusing the finance minister of refusing to support his legislative initiative.

“There was no discussion at all on the legislation regarding the Judicial Selection Committee. In fact, no minister expressed his opinion in the discussion that did not take place,” Smotrich’s office says in a statement.

“The statements of various parties on the matter are puzzling. The finance minister, who initiated the legal reform, supports legislation to change the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee.”

Previous reports said that Levin left the meeting angrily, complaining that Smotrich and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar had failed to back him up on bringing the controversial legislation to the plenum for the second and third readings necessary to become law.