Hours before a pivotal government vote on Monday to decide whether to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, following a unanimous recommendation by a specially formed ministerial committee, she issued a scathing letter to ministers warning against the move.
Accusing the government of illegally targeting her due to her role as the prosecutor in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal case, Baharav-Miara sharply criticized Justice Minister Yariv Levin. “The government is unlawfully firing the attorney general in the prime minister’s trial,” she wrote.
In her letter, Baharav-Miara announced she would not attend the government meeting, arguing that Levin seeks a compliant legal adviser who would endorse violations such as exempting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students from conscription and interfering in police investigations.
Photo: Alex Kolomoisky, Sharya Diamant (Pool / Haaretz), Shaul Golan, Rafi Kutz
She warned that her dismissal and replacement could influence Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal proceedings and investigations involving other ministers and associates. Even if her ouster is approved, urgent petitions are expected to be filed with the Supreme Court, which is likely to issue a conditional order freezing the decision pending a full hearing.
Legal experts anticipate the court will convene an expanded panel, given the unprecedented move to fire the nation’s top legal gatekeeper, with Baharav-Miara retaining her full authority in the interim.
The vote, initially scheduled last week but postponed due to Tisha B’Av, follows a “hearing” Baharav-Miara skipped, deeming it an illegitimate process. She views the government meeting as a predetermined effort to oust her.
Protest supporting Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara
(Video: Motti Kimchi)
The dismissal committee, held two weeks ago, claimed her refusal to appear reflected a “lack of effective cooperation” and cited “fundamental and prolonged disagreements” with the government as grounds for her removal.
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Baharav-Miara countered, “The decision to alter the attorney general’s tenure is inherently unlawful. Participating in an invalid process with a foregone conclusion would falsely legitimize it, betraying my role.”
She emphasized the broader stakes, saying, “This issue strikes at the core of the public service’s role in Israel and the attorney general’s function. We will continue our work with professionalism and impartiality, undeterred, collaborating with the government to advance its policies while addressing the nation’s challenges.”
Last week, Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg rejected a petition for an urgent hearing, clarifying that the court would review the move only after a final government decision. He hinted that the government should follow the Shamgar Commission’s process, involving an independent panel to assess dismissal, rather than bypassing it.
On Sunday, roughly 1,000 people rallied in support of Baharav-Miara near her Tel Aviv home. Protest leader Shikma Bressler declared, “Netanyahu’s zealous government lacks any legitimacy—substantive, ethical, moral or public—to make decisions for Israel. Extremist, messianic ideologies, combined with the prime minister’s personal interests and his government of felons, are destroying the state.”
Former Supreme Court Justice Ayala Procaccia, now part of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, added, “Dismissal has become a new game to eliminate independent senior officials. This leadership, driven by a criminally indicted prime minister alongside convicted ministers and appointees facing serious allegations, seeks to dismantle Israel’s foundations.”