The Israeli government on Monday unanimously approved the appointment of Gali Baharav-Miara as the new attorney general, making her the first woman to ever take up the position.
Baharav-Miara is set to succeed Avichai Mandelblit, whose term officially ended last week. She is expected to remain in the position for the next six years.
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Outgoing Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, and new Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara
(Photo: Yair Sagi, David Wile)
Attorney Baharav-Miara was nominated by Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar, and in a discussion prior to the voting, he presented her candidacy along with the other two hopefuls, but he emphasized that him and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett personally recommend her for the position.
According to Sa'ar, Baharav-Miara was the "best, most skilled, and most experienced" candidate, possessing "more" of the qualities required to be a legal advisor to the government. The qualities apparently include "a high level of professionalism and legal knowledge, managing abilities, integrity, pressure-resistant capability, a good familiarity with the Justice Ministry and other government ministries, as well as the ability to make changes".
Gali Baharav-Miara, 62, from 2007 to 2015 served as the civil district attorney for the city of Tel Aviv, followed by a stint as a consultant at the law firm Tadmor Levy & Co. Recently, she also participated in several public committees, including an advisory committee on administrative courts law, and a committee that advised on civil procedure.
Although she served at State Attorney's Office for 30 years, she was considered as an outsider, one that doesn't come from deep inside the legal system, and Sa'ar apparently considered that as a positive quality.
"I think there is a priority for a candidate who comes from outside the system, we need to start off with a clean slate," he said.
Sa'ar also praised that her tenure at the civil attorney's office. "She represented Israel in 60% of all civil and administrative procedures conducted in the country," he said. "The extent of the procedures in which Baharav-Miara represented Israel is immense."
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also recommended the candidacy of the Baharav-Miara.
"This is one of the most important and sensitive appointments in the service of Israel, and at the present time, in the face of lack of public confidence in law enforcement, there is an important opportunity here to keep what needs to be kept and to fix what needs to be fixed," said Bennett.
According to Bennett, Israel needs "a good, strong and serious system that the civilians could trust. In addition, the primary role of the attorney general is to help the government implement its policies within the framework of the law's limitations. The government is here to rule, to function, and to do so in a way that will benefit the citizens of the country, and will take Israel forward."