Gotliv and coalition allies turn hearing into attack on AG, who says immunity doesn’t apply

By Ariela Karmel

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9 June 2026, 3:14 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Likud MK Tally Gotliv at a House committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on, June 9, 2026 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The second day of the Knesset House Committee’s hearing on MK Tally Gotliv’s request for immunity sees the Likud lawmaker and coalition allies attack Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and list grievances unrelated to the indictment, as the attorney general argues that Gotliv violated the law by exposing the identity of a Shin Bet officer and that parliamentary immunity does not shield her.

The Attorney General’s Office announced last month that it was indicting Gotliv over social media posts from 2024 identifying the partner of anti-government protest leader Shikma Bressler as a Shin Bet agent, while promoting baseless conspiracy theories linking him to Hamas and insinuating that he bore responsibility for October 7.

Gotliv does not deny exposing the officer’s identity and argued throughout yesterday’s hearing that doing so was justified.

Though she already spoke for most of yesterday’s roughly five-hour hearing, committee chair Ofir Katz permits Gotliv to continue her remarks, during which she accuses Baharav-Miara of “persecuting” the government and behaving like a “crime organization,” while continuing to advance conspiracy theories involving the security establishment and anti-government protestors.

In her remarks, Baharav-Miara counters that the case concerns an alleged straightforward violation of the law and that parliamentary immunity does not exempt lawmakers from criminal liability.

“Information security is not protected by immunity,” Baharav-Miara tells lawmakers, as coalition members shout over her.

“The indictment is not intended to interfere with a lawmaker’s freedom of action,” Baharav-Miara says. “It concerns one thing only – the exposure of a Shin Bet operative.”

“A member of Knesset cannot fulfill their role by committing criminal offenses,” she adds, and notes that Gotliv admits to the conduct at the center of the case.

Her remarks are repeatedly interrupted by Gotliv and other coalition lawmakers, and the hearing is briefly suspended as coalition and opposition lawmakers shout at one another.

The committee is expected to vote today on whether to grant Gotliv immunity. If approved, the request will move to the Knesset plenum, where the coalition is expected to have the votes needed to shield her from prosecution. Any immunity granted, however, would expire at the end of the current Knesset’s term.