Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman on Thursday night ordered the police to launch an investigation into suspicions of witness harassment and obstruction of judicial proceedings that were raised by Uvda (Fact), a left-biased investigative report presented by journalist Ilana Dayan. Since its inception in 1993, Uvda investigated one left-wing target – a real estate agent provocateur who turned in Arab land dealers who sold to Jews and faced torture and prison in the Palestinian Authority. Other than that, the “investigative reports” went after right-wingers.
Last week, the Uvda investigation presented evidence that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, was allegedly behind demonstrations in front of the homes of the prosecutor in Netanyahu’s trial, Liat Ben-Ari, and the main witness, Hadas Klein.
It should be noted that at the current phase of his trial, with PM Netanyahu being forced to testify three days a week in District Court while commanding a war in seven different theaters, the mainstream media have stopped reporting about the trial. The reason is that the state prosecution is being shamed on a daily basis in court, not only by Netanyahu and the gifted defense attorney Amit Hadad but by the judges, who have repeatedly challenged the quality of the indictments and sent Prosecutor Ben-Ari several times to reexamine her charges.
Under these circumstances, using the judicial system to score a blow against the prime minister’s wife appears as sheer lawfare.
Less than an hour after the program ended a week ago, a police spokesperson issued a scathing statement: “We strongly condemn the despicable attempt to present to the public a distorted and false image, which is the fruit of the wild imagination of the editors of the program Uvda.”
Baharav Miara and Aisman contacted the head of the Police Investigations and Intelligence Division demanding that an investigation be launched anyway.
On Thursday, the prime minister released a video in which he condemned the investigation and the media’s treatment of his wife. “Because the unfounded charges against me are collapsing day by day in court, and will continue to collapse even more in the future, the leftists and the media have found a new target, they are mercilessly attacking my wife, Sara, the support of my life,” Netanyahu said.
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana (Likud) accused Baharav Miara of pursuing a policy of selective enforcement “for one side of the political map.” Ohana added: “The attorney general is lazy, blind, deaf and mute. We wish her a full recovery.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has been demanding for months that Baharav Miara be sacked, stated: “It is amazing that even though the AG does not stop at a red light and continues to persecute government ministers, and now the prime minister’s wife, the issue of lack of confidence in her will not be raised at the upcoming government meeting under various and strange excuses. Someone who politically persecutes government ministers and their families cannot continue to serve as AG. It’s a shame that there are still those who bury their heads in the sand and refuse to understand this.”
The AG demanded a while ago that Netanyahu fire Ben Gvir. Netanyahu refused, so Baharav Miara allegedly resorted to lawfare: her minions are reportedly assembling evidence of wrongdoing against the minister. In the Israeli system, a minister––unlike a prime minister––who has been indicted must resign. Not after being found guilty in a court of law, but the minute a judicial bureaucrat has submitted his indictment in court. This explains why Ben Gvir has been furious about the rest of the cabinet being so lackadaisical about the need to kick Miara to the curb.
Happy Hanukkah!
