Netanyahu’s firing of Gallant is legal, attorney general tells High Court in response to petitions

In response to a number of petitions, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara tells the High Court that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is legal and there should therefore not be an intervention in the matter.

Baharav-Miara says that Netanyahu has the authority to fire ministers, including due to political considerations, if the prime minister believes that his policies cannot by advanced by those he appointed and that the move would ensure the proper functioning of the government.

One of the petitions was from the Movement for Quality Government, which asked the court to intervene on the dismissal.

In a statement, the watchdog argued that Gallant’s termination was “a narrow political move that places personal and political interests above the good of the state and the security of its citizens,” linking the premier’s decision to the contentious Haredi draft legislation.

Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that he had fired Gallant, a lawmaker from his own Likud party with whom he has frequently clashed since the government’s accession at the end of 2022, and whom he fired in March 2023 only to reverse the move amid intense public objection.

The premier announced that Foreign Minister Israel Katz would replace Gallant as defense minister, with Gideon Sa’ar becoming foreign minister.

Opposition politicians accused the premier of playing politics at the expense of Israel’s security.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant salutes, at the conclusion of his address to the nation following his firing by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, delivered from the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, November 5, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)