Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tasked Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Monday with finding a solution to what he said was the ongoing opposition of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to his government.
His request followed a Cabinet discussion on Monday in which several government ministers expressed frustration with the attorney general, according to leaked reports of the meeting widely reported in the Hebrew press.
An adversarial relationship has long existed between the Attorney General’s Office and the government, sharpened by the latter’s failed judicial reform effort last year, which would have severely curtailed the attorney general’s influence.
Sparking the most recent dust-up was a letter from the attorney general on Sunday criticizing Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs for his actions concerning a bill dealing with day-care subsidies for the ultra-Orthodox community.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir complained at the meeting that Baharav-Miara had opposed his solution to prison overcrowding.
She had also tried to prevent “the distribution of weapons. today everyone realizes how much it saved lives,” he added, referring to his largely successful effort to put more guns into the hands of private citizens.
“The problem is that the attorney general opposes. She opposes everything good,” said Ben-Gvir.
Knesset member David Amsalem, who occupies several ministerial posts, including that of second minister in the Justice Ministry, said, “Everything stops with her.” Because of Baharav-Miara, he added, “We switched to working through private [Knesset] members’ bills,” meaning the government was being forced to use a workaround to prevent the attorney general from blocking its efforts.
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi called for the attorney general to be fired. He suggested replacing her with Fuchs, himself an attorney.
Said Netanyahu: “We saw what was approved in the previous government—illegal gas agreements, appointments in a transitional government. It’s impossible to work like this. I’m asking Yariv [Levin] for a proposal on how to solve it. She is against us.”
A statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office after the meeting read: “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.”
Perhaps concerned of running afoul of a 2020 conflict of interest agreement that keeps Netanyahu from involving himself in judicial appointments while his corruption trials are ongoing, the statement emphasized that the prime minister was careful to abide by that agreement.
