Israel plunges deeper into constitutional crisis as Netanyahu gov’t moves to oust attorney general

Escalating its attack on democracy and deepening Israel’s constitutional crisis, the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu has voted to initiate the process of dismissing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. The move marks another major escalation in the government’s ongoing efforts to neutralise institutional checks on its power, coming on the heels of a widely criticised judicial overhaul that has already shaken Israeli society.

The move, advanced by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, seeks to alter the existing legal safeguards for dismissing an attorney general. It bypasses the standard selection committee, which is intended as a buffer against political interference, and instead empowers a newly formed ministerial committee to schedule a dismissal hearing. Under the revised mechanism, dismissal of the attorney general could proceed with the support of three-quarters of cabinet ministers.

In a letter to the committee, Levin declared “a lack of confidence in the attorney general due to her improper conduct” and cited irreconcilable disagreements with the government. Critics say the attempt to remove Baharav-Miara is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broader assault on the judiciary, an effort that has drawn mass protests and international concern since his government unveiled plans for the controversial “judicial reforms” in 2023. These reforms sought to weaken the Supreme Court, erode oversight mechanisms, and entrench executive authority.

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Attorney General Baharav-Miara condemned the move as unlawful, insisting it defies a prior High Court ruling which reaffirmed the necessity of a non-political selection process. “This proposal was introduced without staff work, without professional justification, and without legal basis,” her office stated, according to Haaretz.

Legal scholars view the attorney general’s dismissal as a red line. Her removal would allow the Netanyahu government to install a loyalist in a role that has historically functioned as a check on executive power, including by overseeing the long-delayed corruption investigations against Netanyahu himself.

“The cabinet decision wipes out in one stroke the legal framework established by the Shamgar Committee,” Baharav-Miara said, referring to the guidelines governing the attorney general’s authority and independence. She added that the government’s unprecedented efforts to oust her stem from its repeated failure to do so through legal means over the past several months.

The new ministerial committee that will oversee the hearing includes ultra-nationalist ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, both of whom have openly advocated for weakening judicial independence. Ben-Gvir wasted no time demanding immediate proceedings: “We don’t need to wait even a minute,” he said.

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While Israel is often described as a democracy for Jews alone, even those limited democratic guarantees have come under increasing threat since the return of Netanyahu’s far-right coalition in late 2022. The now-infamous judicial overhaul plans sparked one of the largest protest movements in the country’s history, with hundreds of thousands demonstrating weekly against what they called a coup against the rule of law.

Critics argue the latest move reveals the government’s authoritarian trajectory. “This is not about governance—it’s about absolute control,” a former Supreme Court judge said speaking to Haaretz.

With the High Court likely to rule on the legality of the move, Israel is said to be careening further toward a full-blown constitutional crisis.