Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara responded this afternoon (Sunday) to statements by Judge Noam Solberg, who ruled that there was no need for an interim order at this stage in the petitions concerning her dismissal. Baharav-Miara argued that the process should be halted immediately.
In an official response to the Supreme Court, she wrote: "The court is requested to bring the decision for judicial review as soon as possible and not allow the government to advance the unlawful process to a discussion in the cabinet, before the court rules on the fundamental question regarding the legality of changing the dismissal rules for the Attorney General."
She claimed, "The situation, where the government has been advancing, step by step, an obviously unlawful procedure for terminating the tenure of the Attorney General for five weeks, is leading to accumulating institutional damage to the office of the Attorney General and to the public service as a whole."
She further added, "The mere advancement of this unlawful process, even if in the end the procedure and its outcomes are annulled, lends legitimacy to the process."
It was also written: "By doing so, the legitimacy is granted to the government for changing, not for the first time, the rules that apply to it on the fly, in order to suit its immediate need. In other words: it acts without any rules to achieve a specific outcome. This conduct harms the guarantees for the independence and dignity of the entire public service, and the gatekeepers’ ability to maintain their integrity in particular, causing immediate and accumulating damages."
At the end of her response, it was stated: "This is a government decision, an administrative decision, to permanently change the law regarding the dismissal of the Attorney General. A decision that causes immediate and accumulating damage, which should be brought for judicial review immediately - detached from how it is implemented."
The Attorney General’s response to the Supreme Court was sent ahead of the vote today in the special ministerial committee chaired by Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, regarding the recommendation to end Baharav-Miara's tenure. The recommendation of the ministerial committee will be brought to a vote in the government meeting next Sunday.