PM Netanyahu blasts ‘deep state’ after cabinet confirms return of Ben Gvir over A-G’s objections

Several cabinet members blasted Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara before unanimously approving the reappointment of Itamar Ben Gvir as National Security Minister, despite her objections.

The government approved the return of Ben Gvir's Jewish Power party (Otzma Yehudit), as well as the reappointments of his party colleagues as ministers.

Amichai Eliyahu will return as minister of Heritage, while Yitzhak Wasserlauf will resume his role as minister of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience.

Before the meeting, Baharav-Miara stated her opinion that Ben Gvir could not be reappointed, without providing details. However, in an opinion published late last year she noted several illegitimate acts of intervention by Ben Gvir into police operations.

The appointments are due to receive Knesset approval on Wednesday, however, it is widely expected that High Court petitions will be filed against them.

During the meeting on Tuesday, several cabinet members accused Baharav-Miara of overstepping her authority and being part of the “deep state” that tries to hamper the government.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who is spearheading the effort to dismiss the attorney general from her post, charged: “Are you the Knesset? Are you the people’s representative? You are interfering with the people’s decision. You and the Supreme Court are overstepping your authority, and in such cases, the government must act according to its own authority.”

Levin was supported by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who attacked Baharav-Miara using unusually sharp language.

“The public understands today what the ‘deep state’ is. They want all the power to be in the hands of the court because they don’t want democracy. When I insisted on opening the media to competition, the public didn’t understand. Today, it does. They talked to me in the U.S. about the ‘deep state’ I said, over there it’s a puddle, here it’s an ocean. We’re done staying silent; we will stand firm against this,” Israeli media outlets quoted the prime minister as saying.

“Plato wanted a government elevated from the people, and replaced the democracy that was. In the United States, they chose the democratic system that became the democracy with checks and balances and the three branches of government that we know today. Athens-Washington-Tel Aviv. I would say Jerusalem, but it's Tel Aviv. They're trying to take it to a place where the court and the attorney-general are elevated from the people and control everything. This is Plato's system,” Netanyahu added.

The prime minister was joined by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who has previously sought to mediate between the right-wing government and its critics, proposing several compromise proposals to the judicial reforms.

Recounting Reflecting on his years of experience working in the Attorney General’s office and various other government institutions, as well as his involvement in the appointment of two attorneys general, ”Sa’ar noted: “There has never been anything like this. Nothing even close to this.”

“In trying to find a fitting metaphor for the Attorney General’s conduct in her zeal to harm the government, I recalled the kamikaze pilots of World War II who sacrificed themselves to strike enemy targets. What we are witnessing before our eyes is the self-destruction of the government’s legal counsel while attempting to target the government,” the foreign minister charged.

“What grounds did the Attorney General find to prevent this appointment? Even the grounds of barring an appointment due to an indictment reflect an activist approach given the explicit wording of the law. Now, there isn’t even an indictment.”

Baharav-Miara’s concerns are believed to stem from the High Court’s directive prohibiting Ben Gvir from interfering with police operations and promotions within the force on a political basis.

Ben Gvir has been accused of ordering police to specifically crack down on anti-government protests. In July 2023, he demoted Tel Aviv Police Chief Amichai Eshed, who later resigned claiming he didn’t want to “break rules” under Ben Gvir’s orders.

Eshed was seen joining the anti-government protests for the first time this week.

In her 2024 opinion, Baharav-Miara also cited a statement by former police commissioner Kobi Shabtai who said Ben Gvir instructed senior police officers to ignore orders from the cabinet regarding the protection of humanitarian aid convoys on their way to Gaza.