A day after he objected to it at a cabinet meeting, Benjamin Netanyahu has announced on Wednesday afternoon that he would submit to a cabinet approval the appointment of Blue&White chairman Benny Gantz as Justice Minister in the transitional government.
The announcement came a few hours ahead of the High Court planned session to debate the legality of the vote on the appointment of Ofir Akunis to this position yesterday (AG and PM in Shouting Match, High Court Freezes Justice Minister, Did Anyone Say ‘Constitutional Crisis?’).
The Prime Minister’s announcement states that the reason for the change of direction is “to get out of the impasse and enable the necessary activities of the Ministry of Justice.”
Netanyahu submitted a response to the High Court, claiming that contrary to AG Mandelblit’s claims, at the time of the vote “ministers were well aware of the Attorney General’s position.”
It has not yet been decided whether the hearing in the High Court, scheduled for 3:30 PM, will take place, now that the matter has been resolved.
“The court or the attorney general should not place themselves as a super-government and should refrain from determining for the government what political appointment it should make,” Netanyahu said in his response to the court. “The very discussion of the appointment was therefore made under the legal process, without a political agreement being reached as would have been proper.”