Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party accused Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Thursday of “concocting false cases” against the premier’s people out of personal interest after she announced a probe into his office’s alleged dealings with Qatar.
“As the cases concocted against Prime Minister Netanyahu crumble in court, new and false cases are concocted against his people out of the personal interests of those leading the investigation,” the Likud Party stated, in reference to the premier’s ongoing trial on corruption charges.
The party was responding to a Ynet report that Baharav-Miara decided to open a formal investigation into “the connection between elements in the Prime Minister’s Office and elements linked to Qatar.”
Baharav-Miara’s decided on the probe following discussions with State Attorney Amit Aisman and officials from the Israel Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) indicating possible suspicions of abuse of office and conflicts of interest, according to the report. The investigation will be conducted by the Shin Bet and police, Ynet said.
According to earlier reports, suspicions have been raised in recent days that Eli Feldstein, who was employed as a spokesman on military affairs in the Prime Minister’s Office and is suspected of unlawful handling of classified material, simultaneously worked for a firm that sought improve Qatar’s image.
The alleged work was said to have taken place as Netanyahu was publicly slamming Doha as a backer of Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Netanyahu’s office and Feldstein’s lawyers have denied the reports.
Qatar, which has hosted Hamas leadership and has provided the organization with hundreds of millions of dollars, played a role in mediating the freedom of hostages held by the terrorist group. It has deflected accusations of playing a double game, saying United States requested that it open the channel.
According to Israeli law, Baharav-Miara does not work on behalf of the Prime Minister’s Office, as opposed to in the U.S., where the attorney general is part of the executive branch. Netanyahu has often clashed with Baharav-Miara, who was appointed by then Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in 2022.
The adversarial relationship was sharpened by Netanyahu’s failed judicial reform effort, which would have severely curtailed the attorney general’s power.
The Qatar probe came days after Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi announced that the government intends to start formal proceedings “in the next two to three weeks” to dismiss Baharav-Miara.
“The justice minister prepared a hearing with hundreds of examples of illegal activity—things that are inconceivable for an attorney-general to do,” said Karhi of Baharav-Miara, speaking at the annual Jerusalem Convention of the Basheva weekly and Arutz 7 on Monday.
“There is no scenario in which she will remain in her position,” said Karhi, who has spearheaded the process alongside Justice Minister Yariv Levin. “The law states that the AG’s role is to advise and assist the government in advancing policy—not to block it from within,” he added.
Karhi launched his effort to remove Baharav-Miara in December, charging her with “deliberately thwarting government policy for political reasons” and “inventing absurd legal impediments.”
The initiative came a month after Netanyahu tasked Levin with finding a solution to what he described as adversarial legal advice from Baharav-Miara.
“Following severe criticism by the government ministers of the attorney general, the prime minister clarified that the attorney general is expected to assist the government in implementing the government’s decisions and promoting bills on its behalf—and not the other way around,” the Prime Minister’s Office said following a Cabinet discussion in November.