A-G: Gov't decision to fire A-G is faulty, must be subjected to judicial review before advancement - Sarah Ben-Nun

 

by Sarah Ben-Nun

The decision “opened the door to firing the attorney-general - the general prosecutor - based on foreign factors and calculations, including regarding ongoing criminal investigations,” she wrote.

 

Attorney general Gali Baharav Miara attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee leads a committee meeting in the Knesset in Jerusalem.

(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90) 

The government's decision to change the hiring and dismissal process of the attorney-general is faulty to its core, has ominous effects on the future of the role, and should not advance at all before judicial review, the Attorney-General’s Office wrote on Sunday. 

The letter was penned in response to a Friday decision by Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg, in which he ruled that if the government decides to fire Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, the decision wouldn't come into effect right away. This is in order to allow the court to consider legal challenges to her removal.

The government decision from June 8 came after it failed to fill the public-professional committee, which is tasked with the authority to issue the government recommendations on the role of hiring or firing before a decision is made. 

The committee is made up of a retired Supreme Court justice as chairman or chairwoman, appointed by the Supreme Court president and by approval of the justice minister; a former justice minister or attorney-general, chosen by the government; an MK, chosen by the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee; a lawyer, chosen by the Israel Bar Association; and a legal academic, selected by the deans of the law faculties.

It now awaits Knesset votes, as petitions were filed to the High Court of Justice to freeze the firing. 

'You will never walk alone,' bus add says, along with picture of A-G Gali Baharav Miara, July 20, 2025. (credit: MOVEMENT FOR QUALITY GOVERNMENT IN ISRAEL)

The decision “opened the door to firing the attorney-general - the general prosecutor - based on foreign factors and calculations, including regarding ongoing criminal investigations,” she wrote. 

Dramatic implications and consequences

Baharav-Miara stressed the dramatic implications and consequences of such a decision, beyond her current position: “It will permanently change the firing process... As such, it would be right to bring it to judicial review already now, without waiting for it to further advance.

“The government's actions over the past five weeks are leading to irreparable damage to the institution that is the legal advisory.”

NGO Movement for Quality Government in Israel said, “The committee's recommendation was the foregone conclusion of an unlawful procedure conducted without a real hearing by a political committee. A committee consisting of coalition ministers, loyal to a prime minister accused of corruption and a government in which an unprecedented number of ministers are under criminal investigation, which is called a ‘ministerial committee’ but in fact serves as Netanyahu's long arm, cannot serve as a legal forum to remove the country's most senior gatekeeper.”

Sarah Ben-Nun

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-861596

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