A ministerial panel led by Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli on Sunday afternoon voted to recommend the dismissal of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
The unanimous vote came after Baharav-Miara was summoned twice for a hearing last week but failed to appear, claiming that the committee procedure established by the government was illegal.
Chikli’s committee also included Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Innovation, Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel and Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli. The latter delayed his resignation from the government to participate in the vote on Baharav-Miara’s dismissal.
Following the panel’s recommendation to fire the attorney general, the matter still needs to pass through the full Cabinet, which could happen as early as July 27.
In addition, Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, ruled on Friday that the government decision would not take effect until the justices have reviewed the procedure and reasons for the firing.
“Should the government decide to dismiss the attorney general, the decision will not take effect immediately, in order to allow sufficient time for judicial review,” Justice Noam Sohlberg wrote in his ruling.
Baharav-Miara had asked the court for a temporary injunction to freeze the push to dismiss her via the ministerial committee hearing, and to block any additional government actions related to her removal.
“The process of ending the term of office of the attorney general has become a purely political process,” she said in a statement to the Supreme Court on July 7.
Responding to Friday’s ruling on Sunday, Baharav-Miara again urged the Supreme Court to block the Cabinet from voting on her dismissal, writing that the process was fundamentally flawed and allowing it to proceed would do “immediate damage to the rule of law in Israel.”
While the government has the authority to fire an attorney general, in the past such a decision could only be made at the recommendation of a professional committee composed of justices, lawyers, academics and ministers.
However, in a unanimous decision on June 8, the Cabinet altered the method by which an attorney general may be dismissed, so that the justice minister can submit a request for the dismissal to a panel composed of five government ministers.
Under the new system, after a hearing by the ministerial committee, a vote to dismiss must be brought before the full Cabinet, which needs to pass the decision with at least 75% of its members in favor.
Chikli has said that the calls for Baharav-Miara’s firing come against the backdrop of “inappropriate conduct and substantial and prolonged differences of opinion between the government and the attorney general, creating a situation that prevents effective cooperation.”
Israel’s right-wing coalition has been at loggerheads with the attorney general since its formation after the general election of Nov. 1, 2022.
According to Israeli law, Baharav-Miara does not work for the premier, as opposed to in the United States, where the attorney general is an agent of the executive branch. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others have often clashed with Baharav-Miara, who was appointed to the post in 2022 by the coalition led by then-premier Naftali Bennett.
