Protesters lock gate to Levin’s garage after he shut AG out of her office

Demonstrators locked the gate to the parking area in the building where Justice Minister Yariv Levin lives in the central city of Modiin, in an act of protest after Levin’s driver locked Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara out of a shared office.

Residents soon broke open the chains.

“Anarchists decided that it was legitimate to lock the entrance to a building parking lot where Minister Levin lives; the parking lot is not just his but serves all the residents of the building,” said a statement from his office.

A picture from the scene showed the lock had a note saying: “The key is with Levin’s driver.”

Levin was mulling filing a complaint with the police on the matter, Channel 12 news reported, adding that security around the justice minister was increased.

The incident came a day after Levin locked Baharav-Miara out of an office, his latest attempt to kick her out of the workings of the government. Last week, the cabinet voted to fire her after forming a special committee for that purpose. The High Court of Justice froze that decision immediately, instructing the government not to block Baharav-Miara from performing her responsibilities in any way.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party on Wednesday filed a High Court petition seeking an order to block Levin from interfering with Baharav-Miara’s work.

In the filing, Yesh Atid wrote that “the justice minister, acted consciously, and deliberately, and in complete contradiction, in a blatant attempt to undermine the authority of the court.”

Justice Ministry sources told the Ynet news site that Baharav-Miara would not allow Levin to bypass her and work only with her deputies.

“Baharav-Miara is the only address for the attorney general,” the sources said.

Meanwhile, the court instructed Levin to respond by Sunday to petitions alleging that he had violated its ruling, which required that Baharav-Miara be allowed to continue her work despite the government’s decision to fire her.

Levin, who has frequently clashed with Baharav-Miara, has despite the court ruling 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 she and Levin share in Tel Aviv, according to Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew-language sister site.

After the attorney general refused that order, the driver changed the locks on the office at Levin’s behest. As a result, Baharav-Miara’s staff was unable to enter.

The act prompted an outpouring of condemnation and mockery from Levin’s political opponents as well as the head of the Israel Bar Association, who called Levin a “criminal who endangers Israel’s existence.”