Peloni
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. Ben Gvir – Own work, CC0, Wikipedia
A growing legal and political confrontation in Israel has been centered on efforts to remove National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from office, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forcefully opposing such moves while the High Court of Justice weigh the issue.
Ironically enough, petitions filed with the High Court seek to compel Netanyahu to dismiss Ben-Gvir, arguing that the minister has engaged in unlawful interference in police operations, including involvement in investigations, promotions, and the policing of protests, thereby undermining law enforcement independence. These novel claims reproaching the National Security Minister for fulfilling his role in the govt have been supported by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. The case is being heard by an expanded panel of Supreme Court Justices, emphasizing the constitutional significance and the broader question of the limits of ministerial authority over policing matters.
Netanyahu has responded by firmly rejecting the petitions, describing them as an unconstitutional attempt to remove a sitting minister. In submissions to the court, he argued that the judiciary lacks legal authority to intervene in government appointments and that these powers rests solely with the prime minister, whose decisions would ultimately be held accountable to both the Knesset and the Israeli electorate. He warned that accepting the petitions would improperly draw the court into the political arena and violate the separation of powers. Netanyahu further criticizes the attorney general’s position, asserting that efforts to force Ben-Gvir’s dismissal undermine democratic principles.
The dispute has also drawn in senior security and political figures. Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar is alleged to have been involved in actions connected to the broader conflict surrounding Ben-Gvir’s authority, with claims that security mechanisms were mobilized under the direct instruction of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, according to a recent bombshell report by I24 News on Tuesday. Notably, a year ago, reporter Amit Segal broke the story that the then Shin Bet chief was investigating Min. Ben-Gvir, a report which is made more clear as to the motivation by yesterday’s I24 News report implicating the Attorney General in this scandal.
At the same time, Justice Minister Yariv Levin has emerged as a central political figure in the confrontation, strongly criticizing the legal efforts to remove Ben-Gvir, characterizing them as part of an ever growing pattern of judicial overreach displacing the authority of the politically elected government. Levin has argued that attempts to use the court system to unseat a sitting minister undermine the authority of elected officials and reflect a deeper institutional imbalance between the judiciary and the government. Levin went further earlier today in stating that he would not respect the decision of the Supreme Court if they rule against Min. Ben-Gvir.
Never one to be upstaged by the efforts of others to speak in his defense, just prior to the hearing before the Supreme Court, Ben-Gvir impeached the efforts of his adversaries to unseat him in a highly rational, if scathing, retort in his own behalf by challenging that the charges made against him were not only true, but were the basis on which he gained the support of more than 500,000 voters who supported him in the last election:
“Citizens of Israel, Gali Baharav-Miara says that I set policy and change the police. She is right.
Gali Baharav-Miara says that I interfere in appointments, that I have already appointed more than one thousand one hundred officers in order to implement my policy. She is right about that as well.
Gali Baharav-Miara says that I give backing to our fighters; when stones were thrown at Border Police officers and they fired, I backed them—she is right about that too.
Gali Baharav-Miara says that I supported Force 100; she is right about that too.
Gali Baharav-Miara says that I back Kobi Yaakobi, the Prison Service commissioner who stopped all the “camps” of the terrorists; she is right about that too. The people of Israel chose me and Otzma Yehudit to lead all these things, and thank God that we succeeded.
I am not a model of the prosecution.
I am not a plant.
I am a minister who was elected to govern.
The Attorney General wants a minister of ceremonies, a minister who cuts ribbons; I am a minister of actions.
The only reason we are here today is because I stood by my word to the voters. I promised policy, I promised governance, I promised that I would control my ministry; that is exactly what I did and what the dismissed adviser cannot stand.
More than half a million citizens and millions more voters of the national camp chose to lead real change, and now Gali Baharav-Miara wants to take your voice, wants to deny you the right.
She wants me without appointments, without policy, without backing for the fighters. The time has come for those who voted right-wing to receive right-wing, and that is what I did.
Friends, the attempt to interfere in the appointment of a minister and in his authorities is a dangerous thing; it is a dangerous thing for democracy.
Only yesterday it was revealed how Gali Baharav-Miara turns to Ronen Bar and says to him, to the head of the secret service: go find materials against Ben-Gvir. He returns to her and says there are no materials; she tells him go continue to find materials.
This is not democracy, and I demand to check, to investigate, and to stop Gali Baharav-Miara and Ronen Bar who did this thing.
In a democracy, the minister sets policy; the minister also makes the appointments—not a legal adviser, not the prosecution, not their emissaries. That is how it is in a democracy.
I say: do not drag Israel into a constitutional crisis, do not drag Israel into division, into polarization.
Democracy will not fall!
The judicial dictatorship will fall.
I tell them: the people are not deterred by you, the people are not afraid of you, the people do not retreat from you. The people chose right-wing and they will receive right-wing. And whoever it does not suit, should contend in the Knesset elections.
We were elected to govern, and with God’s help we will continue to govern. The judicial dictatorship will not win; the people chose right-wing and they will receive right-wing.”
G_d willing, Ben-Gvir’s final sentence will to be proven to be providential going forward, “The judicial dictatorship will not win; the people chose right-wing and they will receive right-wing.” The people should be understood to be the sovereign in Israel, and they deserve the govt for which they vote…at least in a representative democracy this would be expected to be true, though not in a juristocracy.
Sources
https://www.jns.org/news/israel-news/netanyahu-rejects-calls-to-oust-ben-gvir
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/425515
https://worldisraelnews.com/netanyahu-battles-court-over-attempt-to-unseat-ben-gvir/
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-893065
https://x.com/itamarbengvir/status/2044338126672289965
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