Gatekeeper on Trial: The Ouster of Israel’s First Female Attorney General
“Let her return to her home. It seems to me that is the place where there are many more important things she can succeed at,” said Knesset Member Tzvika Foghel, referring to Gali Baharav-Miara, the first female Attorney General of Israel.
Foghel, the Chair of the Knesset National Security Committee and a member of the Otzma Yehudit political party, is famous for stating that "If there's any doubt about whether a terrorist has a weapon or doesn't have a weapon, shoot first, then check.” Foghel further attacked Gali Baharav-Miara, calling her a traitor to the State of Israel in her capacity as attorney general.
The condescending of Bahara- Miara by Fogel and others in the Netanyahu government is part of a campaign to remove her from her job as AG dating from 2023. The then newly formed government of Netanyahu considered her an official who was excessively independent and that consistently obstructed the government’s decisions on legal grounds.
In contrast to other major world democracies, where the attorney general is an integral part of the executive branch, the AG in Israel is neither a political appointee nor a member of the executive branch. Rather, the AG functions as a gatekeeper, a sort of extension of the Supreme Court, which ensures that all government policies are legal.
For example, the attorney-general may notify the government that he will not represent the government in the High Court if a citizen's complaint against the government is determined to be valid.
The ministers in Netanyahu's coalition were incensed by Baharav-Miara's opposition to the government's judicial reform, which she contended would grant the government virtually unrestricted power without providing any institutional protections for individual rights or Israel's democratic character.
Her response, which stated that "the attorney general is fighting to preserve Israeli democracy against people who seek to create a regime in which the government is above the law, without oversight or balances," did not accomplish much beyond adding fuel to the fire.
All of the above, along with the fact that Prime Minister Netanyahu was indicted on three separate criminal charges in 2019 by Avichai Mandelblit, the AG before Baharav-Miara, has led some to believe that the true motivation for Netanyahu and his allies in trying to remove Baharav-Miara is to find a new AG who is more likely to give him a favorable plea deal in the corruption proceedings against him, so avoiding jail time.
Whatever the situation may be, she was removed from office by a unanimous decision of the government on August 4. In order to prevent the selection of a successor while the legitimacy of the firing was reviewed, the Israeli Supreme Court promptly granted an injunction.
