JERUSALEM: Israel’s hard-line National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir lashed out Tuesday at an effort to oust him backed by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on the eve of a High Court hearing on the matter.
The court is scheduled to hear four petitions on Wednesday calling for his removal, alleging that he has undermined the independence of the police.
Ben Gvir in a post on X criticized the effort as “delusional and anti?democratic.”
The case is the latest example of the tension between Israel’s judiciary and one of the most right-wing governments in the country’s history.
Baharav-Miara expressed support for the petitions last year, according to Israeli media reports.
In January, she asked the High Court to order Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to explain why he was not dismissing the hawkish cabinet member.
In her submission to the court, she accused Ben Gvir of “abusing his position to improperly influence the activities of the Israel police in the most sensitive areas of law enforcement and investigations, and of violating basic democratic principles.”
On X, Ben Gvir wrote that “Gali Baharav-Miara says that I set policy, change the police, interfere in appointments... The truth is — she’s right. That’s why I was elected. Not to be a figurehead, not to cut ribbons.”
“I was elected to govern. The people voted right?wing to get right?wing,” he added.
On Monday, Netanyahu submitted his 129?page response to the High Court opposing the bid to oust Ben Gvir, arguing it was an “unconstitutional demand” and that the court lacked authority to interfere in government decisions or in the appointment of ministers.
Last month, he described the attorney general’s request as “inconceivable... in the midst of an existential war,” saying her call to dismiss a senior minister — against whom no criminal investigation had been opened — “harms the foundations of democracy.”
