Top Israel court hears petitions to oust far-right minister

JERUSALEM: Israel’s High Court was on Wednesday hearing four petitions backed by the country’s attorney general that seek to oust hard-line National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
The case is the latest example of the tension between the judiciary and one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history, and has been sharply criticized by several other ministers.
The petitions seek Ben Gvir’s removal on the grounds that he has undermined the independence of the police.
The petitions won the support of Attorney General Gali Baharav?Miara, who in January asked the court to order Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to explain why he was not dismissing the cabinet member.
In her request, Baharav-Miara 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.”
Ahead of the hearing, Ben Gvir was defiant, calling for the “arrest and investigation” of the attorney general.
“(She) says I set policy and change the police — she’s right. She says I interfere in appointments, and appointed more than 1,000 people in order to implement my policy — she’s right about that too,” he said, flanked by supporters.
“Attempts to interfere with a minister’s appointment and his powers is dangerous for democracy. Democracy will not fall; the judicial dictatorship will fall,” he vowed.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin also weighed in, denouncing the hearing as “illegal” and saying “the judges’ decision will have no validity.”
And Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, a former justice minister, urged the court “to refrain from harming democracy,” saying the case — which seeks to compel Netanyahu to dismiss Ben Gvir — “goes too far,” he wrote on Telegram.
On Monday, Netanyahu submitted his 129?page response to 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.”