Ministerial panel unanimously recommends firing the attorney general

A five-member ministerial committee, chaired by Amichai Chikli (Likud), unanimously recommended dismissing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Sunday, with a cabinet vote set for July 27. The committee, including Bezalel Smotrich (National Religious Party–Religious Zionism), Itamar Ben Gvir (Otzma Yehudit), Gila Gamliel (Likud), and Michael Malkieli (Shas), accused Baharav-Miara of obstructing government policies, selectively enforcing laws, and refusing to represent the government in court. Baharav-Miara also ordered a 2024 investigation into Sara Netanyahu for alleged harassment of political opponents and a witness in Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial, intensifying tensions.

Baharav-Miara denounced the dismissal process as “unlawful,” arguing it undermines Israel’s rule of law. She noted that “in the overwhelming majority” of disputes, the High Court upheld her stance, validating her claims of government illegality. She urged the court to halt the process, warning, “the very fact of the advancement of an unlawful process… gives weight to arguments for the legitimacy of the process.”

The government altered the dismissal procedure, bypassing a 2000 cabinet resolution after a prior failed attempt. Judge Noam Sohlberg declined to freeze the process but delayed any dismissal’s effect pending a legality ruling.