Israeli attorney general Gali Baharav Miara and Minister of Justice Yariv Levin at a farewell ceremony for retiring acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on October 1, 2024. Photo by Oren Ben Hakoon/POOL
Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin announced on Wednesday evening the start of proceedings to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
The process will begin with a government decision expressing no confidence in the attorney general. Following this, the missing members of the selection committee will be appointed, and the committee will convene. The committee’s recommendation will then be brought for a government decision, and finally, petitions to the High Court of Justice on the matter will be possible. The entire process is expected to take several months.
However, the no-confidence motion is unlikely to be presented at the next government meeting, and the decision could be delayed by several weeks, assuming that Baharav-Miara requests time to prepare.
Despite the conflict of interest agreement, Netanyahu’s associates pushed for an expedited dismissal
Kan 11 News reported in its Wednesday evening broadcast that Levin had originally planned to announce the initiation of dismissal proceedings only after the approval of the law to change the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee. As previously reported by Kan News, advisors representing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were present in discussions regarding the planned dismissal, despite Netanyahu’s conflict of interest arrangement, which prohibits him from intervening in the process.
Legal system officials were surprised by the timing, expecting the head of the Shin Bet to be dismissed first
Kan 11 News also reported that while officials in the legal system were not surprised by the announcement itself, they were caught off guard by its timing. The prevailing expectation was that the government would first dismiss Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar before proceeding with the removal of the attorney general.
This is an unprecedented move. The last time an attorney general was effectively dismissed was nearly 40 years ago when Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir was forced out due to his insistence on investigating the “Bus 300 Affair”. However, the process was different, as it was carried out through the appointment of a replacement attorney general.
Following his announcement, Minister Levin published a photo of himself holding an 800-page document containing ministerial complaints regarding Baharav-Miara’s conduct.
Background: Ongoing efforts to remove Baharav-Miara
Two days before, Kan 11 News reported that efforts to advance the dismissal of the attorney general were still under consideration, partly in the context of the judicial selection reform proposed by Ministers Levin and Gideon Sa’ar, which Baharav-Miara opposed.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch welcomed Levin’s decision, stating:
“The attorney general has been obstructing the government’s work from day one in an unreasonable and purely political manner. She is acting as an opposition force in every sense.”
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi also praised the decision, saying:
“Kudos to my colleague, the justice minister, for keeping his word. We promised, and we are delivering. Time to go home.”
Last week, Karhi declared at a conference hosted by the “Besheva” group that the dismissal process would begin in the coming weeks. He added:
“The justice minister has prepared a hearing with hundreds of examples of illegal actions—things that an attorney general should never do.”
Karhi, who has repeatedly advocated for Baharav-Miara’s dismissal and gathered signatures from numerous ministers in support of her removal, stated that there was “no scenario in which she remains in office.” He emphasized:
“The law states that the role of the attorney general is to advise and assist the government in advancing its policies, not to block it from within.”
