By Dedi Hayun and James Mackenzie
TEL AVIV/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet approved a no confidence motion against the attorney general on Sunday, in its latest move on officials deemed hostile to the government, defying protesters who took to the streets for a sixth day.
After the vote, Justice Minister Yariv Levin called on Gali Baharav-Miara to resign, saying “substantial and prolonged differences of opinion” prevented effective cooperation between the government and its chief legal adviser.
The vote against the attorney general, who has frequently clashed with the government over the legality of some of its policies, came days after cabinet sparked mass protests by approving the removal of Shin Bet intelligence agency chief Ronen Bar, after Netanyahu lost confidence in him.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have joined demonstrations over the past week, as anger at the removal of Bar, whose agency has been investigating corruption allegations linking Qatar with Netanyahu’s office, has merged with fears for Israeli hostages after a resumption of the bombing campaign in Gaza.
Final dismissal of Baharav-Miara, a former district attorney appointed under previous prime minister Naftali Bennett, could be months away. Bar’s dismissal, approved by cabinet despite objections from the attorney-general, has been held up for two weeks by a temporary injunction from the Supreme Court.
But the moves against the two officials have drawn accusations from protesters and the opposition that Netanyahu’s right-wing government is undermining key state institutions.
At the same time, families and supporters of the 59 hostages still held in Gaza have vented their anger at what many see as the government’s abandonment of their loved ones.
“All they want is power and they are sacrificing the kidnapped and the values that the State of Israel was built on, that we value life and morality,” said Sharon Huderland, who joined a march on Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem.
“He’s breaking down, crushing the legal system, and we have to fight to get our country back,” she said.
Signalling the risk of a wider protest that could draw in Israeli institutions, the leadership of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem said that it would shut down the university if the government defied Supreme Court rulings on the dismissals.
ACCUSATIONS
Earlier this month, Levin began moves to dismiss Baharav-Miara, accusing her of politicizing her office and obstructing the government.
On Sunday, he said he would consult with a committee responsible for appointing the attorney general and bring a proposal for her dismissal.
“A way to restore trust no longer exists,” he said in a statement on Sunday. “This situation seriously harms the functioning of the government and its ability to implement its policy.”
In practice, any step to remove the attorney general is likely to face administrative hurdles and an appeals process that could delay it for months.
Although they have different priorities, the protest groups built on mass demonstrations before the Gaza war against the government’s moves to curb the power of the Supreme Court.
“We must come here and protest till Bibi goes home and we’ll save our democracy, and bring back all the hostages,” said protestor Einat Shamri in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu, who has been battling a trial on corruption charges that he denies, said at the time the overhaul was needed to rein in judicial overreach that was intruding on the authority of parliament. But protesters said it was an attempt to weaken one of the pillars of Israeli democracy.
Late on Saturday, Netanyahu issued a video statement defending the dismissal of Bar and rejecting accusations that the sacking was aimed at thwarting a Shin Bet investigation into allegations of financial ties between Qatar and aides in the prime minister’s office.
Instead, he said, the Shin Bet probe was designed to delay Bar’s expected resignation over intelligence failures that allowed the devastating attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 to take place.
Netanyahu has rejected the accusations in the so-called “Qatargate” affair as an attempt to undermine his government for political reasons while Qatar has dismissed it as a “smear campaign”.
(Additional reporting by Steven Scheer; editing by Clelia Oziel and Giles Elgood)
