Levin said set to tap Netanyahu loyalist to serve on professional panel needed to approve AG’s firing

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (R), Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (L) and Likud Knesset Member Amir Ohana (C) attend a  committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on July 26, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (R), Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (L) and Likud Knesset Member Amir Ohana (C) attend a committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on July 26, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin is reportedly slated to appoint Netanyahu loyalist and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana to serve on a committee responsible for authorizing the government’s dismissal of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

The move is likely to be challenged in court, given that the panel is supposed to be professional and apolitical and Ohana is a member of the ruling coalition trying to fire Baharav-Miara.

The panel in question is supposed to include a spot reserved for a former justice minister. That slot was filled by Dan Meridor, but his tenure has wrapped up, requiring the current justice minister to find someone else to replace him.

While Ohana served as justice minister, legal experts speaking to Haaretz say that the High Court would likely disqualify his appointment to the panel given his current position in politics.

The committee’s approval was needed in order to appoint Baharav-Miara in the first place and its authorization is needed before the government can fire her.

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