Levin tells court that office he locked AG out of is his private office

Justice Minister Yariv Levin tells the High Court that the office that his driver changed the locks on last week to prevent Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara from using was his own private office.

“The office that was locked was the private office of the justice minister,” he writes to the court.

In recent years the office in Tel Aviv had been shared for use by the justice minister and the attorney general.

The incident appeared to flout a court order prohibiting Levin from interfering with Baharav-Miara’s duties.

The switch was Levin’s latest attempt to kick Baharav-Miara out of the workings of the government after the cabinet last month voted to fire her after forming a special committee for that purpose. The High Court froze that decision immediately, instructing the government not to block Baharav-Miara from performing her responsibilities in any way.

Levin, who has frequently clashed with Baharav-Miara, has nonetheless objected to her doing her job. After the vote to fire her, Levin’s driver called Baharav-Miara’s staff and instructed them not to use the office that Baharav-Miara and Levin share in Tel Aviv.