High Court says Ben Gvir can’t hire own lawyer to defend appointment opposed by AG

The High Court of Justice rejects a petition by former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir to be allowed independent counsel in a petition against his decision to promote a police officer who is under indictment.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara denied his request for independent counsel after Ben Gvir promoted Superintendent Meir Suissa and appointed him commander of the South Tel Aviv Police Station in 2024, a step the attorney general had explicitly instructed him not to take because of Suissa’s indictment.

Suissa was indicted last year for negligent behavior over an incident in which he threw a stun grenade into a crowd of protesters in an anti-government demonstration in Tel Aviv in March 2023, injuring a woman and traumatizing her.

The High Court rules that there had been no fault with the attorney general’s decision not to grant Ben Gvir independent counsel.

Justice Daphne Barak Erez writes that it has been long-established that the attorney general is the authorized official to interpret the law for the government and its agencies, and that the attorney general’s position is binding. This authority, she writes, extends to the question of independent counsel when the government and the attorney general disagree.

“In acting as he did, the national security minister chose to take an combative approach and act contrary to the explicit instructions of the attorney general that were presented to him, while being aware of the possibility that in such circumstances the attorney general would not be able to defend his position [in court],” Barak Erez writes.

“Granting permission for separate representation in such a situation would be ‘adding insult to injury’,” she adds.

The High Court is yet to rule on the petition against Suissa’s promotion itself. The court suspended the promotion back in September last year until it makes a final ruling on the issue.