Attorney-General to High Court: Ben-Gvir abusing authority, Netanyahu must explain inaction
URI SELA
Thu, January 1, 2026 at 8:56 PM UTC
3 min read
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Ben-Gvir responded during a police ceremony in Beit Shemesh, where he sharply criticized the attorney-general while awarding ranks and making senior appointments.
Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara submitted her response on Thursday to the High Court of Justice regarding petitions challenging National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s tenure, asserting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must explain why he has not dismissed him.
Baharav-Miara called on the court to issue an order nisi, compelling Netanyahu to justify his decision to retain Ben-Gvir.
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“MK [Itamar] Ben-Gvir is abusing his authority in order to improperly influence the activities of Israel Police in the most sensitive areas of law enforcement and investigations, and is harming basic democratic principles,” the attorney-general wrote, adding that Ben-Gvir is “mismanaging his role.”
About a month ago, Baharav-Miara approached the prime minister regarding the petitions. She argued that Ben-Gvir had systematically interfered in police operations and that the basis for the court’s prior approval of his appointment had since deteriorated, warranting Netanyahu’s direct attention.
“Despite the minister’s commitment before the honorable court to act in accordance with the principles formulated with its approval as a safeguard for upholding the law, those principles are being violated, and the law is being breached,” she wrote. “This is done in a manner that continues to harm the proper, professional, and state-oriented functioning of the police.”
“In these circumstances, the honorable court is requested to set the petition for an urgent hearing,” Baharav-Miara concluded, calling for expedited proceedings to determine whether Ben-Gvir may continue to serve.
Ben-Gvir, Sa'ar slam A-G over comments
Ben-Gvir responded during a police ceremony in Beit Shemesh, where he sharply criticized the attorney-general while awarding ranks and making senior appointments.
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“There are certain elements, I know this, more precisely, there is one specific figure, who really doesn’t like that I am acting and getting things done,” he said. "She doesn’t like that I am leading the policy for which I was chosen. I was elected. She doesn’t like that I am doing for this organization what hasn’t been done for it in 30 years.”
Ben-Gvir also claimed there were others who “didn’t like” his initiatives.
“Not everyone liked that we raised salaries, that we are recruiting more police officers, that we are investing our soul and giving backing to fighters facing our enemies,” he said.
He ended with a pointed message: “To the regret of that same figure, I received my mandate from the people of Israel. I received my power from the public that chose me to be the national security minister of the State of Israel.”
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Ben-Gvir also criticized Baharav-Miara in a post on X/Twitter on Thursday evening, calling her a "criminal."
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar echoed Ben-Gvir, slamming Baharav-Miara's comments in his own X post, in which he called the move "another [one] of her efforts to undermine the government's stability in an attempt to topple it."
"An attempt to restrict the authority and discretion of the Prime Minister in appointing and dismissing ministers is an intrusion into the distinctly political realm and must be rejected out of hand," Sa'ar's post concluded.