National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Sunday informed Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara that he does not trust her to faithfully represent him before the High Court in future petitions against him, and will arrange for his own representation.
Ben Gvir has had it up to here with the AG over two recent confrontations: Last Friday morning she ordered him to freeze the removal of the commander of the Tel Aviv district police chief Amichai Eshed, and on Sunday morning, she issued an opinion demanding the postponement of a government-sponsored bill extending immunity to Israel’s security forces regarding events that take place during operational activities.
“Unfortunately, this is not the first time that you have been making decisions in matters related to me and my office without talking to me. This is what you did regarding the police ordinance (you published your opposition to the bill without first talking to us). This is also how you acted regarding other laws promoted by Otzma Yehudit, and in issues related to decision-making at the National Security Ministry,” Ben Gvir wrote AG Baharav-Miara.
“Under these circumstances, I do not trust that you will represent me faithfully in the various petitions, and in the circumstances that have arisen, it will be legal, honest, and just that I will represent myself or through private representation, and will no longer have to receive representation from an AG whose positions are contrary to mine, categorically, always, and always without talking to me,” Ben Gvir concluded.
Ben Gvir cited the opinion of the 1997 Shamgar Commission that recommended, among other things, that in case of a disagreement between the AG and the government regarding a High Court petition, the government is entitled to hire a different representative.
