Universities threaten to strike if AG fired: ‘Unprecedented danger to rule of law’
University presidents say Baharav-Miara is ‘guardian against potential harm by government of citizens’ rights’; Kisch: They’re ‘confused,’ AG obstructing elected government’s work
The presidents of Israel’s eight research universities warned Sunday their institutions will go on strike if the government fires Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, saying in a letter that the move is an unprecedented danger to the rule of law in Israel.
“We warn of the unprecedented danger to the rule of law if the attorney general is fired,” the letter read. “In Israel’s democracy, the attorney general is the most important guardian against potential harm by the government of the rights of the citizens and individual residents in the country.”
“She constitutes, together with the courts, the buffer between democratic rule in which checks and balances on the government are necessary, and tyrannical dictatorial rule in which the government can do as it pleases,” the letter read.
The top professors asserted that the position of the attorney general is meant to serve the public, not politicians, and that calls to fire her constitute a call to break from the rule of law.
The letter came after Justice Minister Yariv Levin began the process of removing Baharav-Miara from her post last week, accusing her of having politicized her office and repeatedly thwarting the will of the government.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch hit back at the university presidents.
“I think you are confused,” he said in a statement. “Israel is a democracy, and the meaning of democracy is rule by the people, not rule by bureaucrats.”
Kisch vowed the government would not be deterred by the pressure of the university presidents, and asserted that the removal of an attorney general did not endanger democracy.
“The attorney general is not above public criticism and is not immune to firing procedures when she operates in a way that goes beyond her professional role and turns herself into an opposition to the elected government,” Kisch wrote.
“Real democracy happens when the will of the public is expressed and isn’t blocked again and again by unelected officials,” he wrote, charging that Baharav-Miara has obstructed the work of the government.
Kisch said that educational institutions should be “a place of critical thinking, not a tool for political confrontation” and said the university presidents were “attempting to impose their political agenda on the general public.”
Baharav-Miara has repeatedly opposed the government on its proposed legislation, appointments, and actions, arguing on numerous occasions that measures taken by the government — including its divisive judicial overhaul agenda — contravened the law and undermined the rule of law in different ways.
The judicial overhaul effort, of which Levin is an architect, divided the country and sparked mass protests in 2023. It was largely shelved upon the outbreak of war with the Hamas terror group, but parts of it have been revived in recent months, drawing vocal opposition from the attorney general.
The university chiefs also panned the overhaul legislation in 2023, warning of consequences to Israeli academia, including a brain drain and the withdrawal of foreign institutions from joint research with Israeli academics.
On Wednesday evening, Channel 12 news aired a poll that it had conducted prior to the announcement of Levin’s steps to fire Baharav-Miara, asking Israelis whether they would support ousting her.
The poll showed 42 percent of Israelis backing the move, compared to 41% who oppose it and 17% who were unsure.
Among coalition voters, support for her ouster stood at 75%, compared to 12% among opposition voters, reflecting her highly controversial status.
The survey, conducted on Wednesday by the Midgam institute among a representative sample of Israeli adults, had 500 respondents and a margin of error of 4.4%.
