Gali Baharav-Miara did not attend the Cabinet session where ministers discussed the 800-page file detailing the government’s complaints.
JNS Staff
(JNS)
Israel’s Cabinet voted unanimously on Sunday to back a motion of “no confidence” against Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, formally setting in motion the process of her dismissal, Hebrew media reported.
The attorney-general is now set to appear before the public committee for appointments and dismissals, which will submit a recommendation to the government ahead of a final vote on Baharav-Miara’s removal.
Baharav-Miara did not attend the Cabinet session where ministers discussed the 800-page file detailing the government’s complaints.
Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin told fellow ministers during the meeting that the fact she had chosen not to attend was a sign of her “absolute disrespect for the government,” according to Channel 12 News.
It also proved “that she has no answers to the claims against her,” according to the Hebrew-language broadcaster.
In Israel, the attorney general does not work for the prime minister, as opposed to in the United States, where the AG is an agent of the executive branch. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other ministers have often clashed with Baharav-Miara, who was appointed in 2022 by the “government of change” led by then-premier Naftali Bennett.
There are only four grounds that justify the dismissal of the attorney general, with one of them being ongoing and essential disagreements between the government and the AG that prevent effective cooperation—which is the justification cited in Sunday’s “no-confidence” motion.
