Ministers to meet on firing attorney general on July 14

A new ministerial committee for firing the attorney general will hold a dismissal hearing for Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on July 14.

It is unclear as yet whether Baharav-Miara will attend.

Last month, the government approved a cabinet resolution bypassing the existing procedure for firing an attorney general, which had required the government to seek the recommendation of a professional statutory committee headed by former Supreme Court president Asher Grunis before firing Baharav-Miara.

Instead, a five-member ministerial committee will hold a hearing and then recommend to the government whether or not to fire her.

Petitions have been filed to the High Court of Justice asking the court to annul the resolution, and the court has given the government and other respondents until July 15 to respond.

The court stated, however, that if a hearing for the attorney general is set before that date it will provide an updated schedule for the submission of responses to the petitions.

The government and the attorney general have clashed repeatedly over the last two and a half years, with the government claiming Baharav-Miara has unjustifiably thwarted the government’s policies and legislation, while the attorney general has argued she has merely restrained the government from acting illegally.