Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi on Tuesday instructed his staff against recognizing the authority of the Attorney-General’s Office, in contempt of a High Court injunction against Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara’s dismissal.
On Monday, the government unanimously approved Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s proposal to dismiss Baharav-Miara. In response, the High Court of Justice issued an injunction against the decision.
In the latest clash between the judiciary and the government, the court said no aspect of the attorney-general’s position is to be changed until a decision is handed down and that the government cannot name a replacement.
Karhi: A-G's legal advice now devoid of any validity
In a memo sent to Communications Ministry staff, Karhi insisted that Baharav-Miara’s office is “no longer authorized to issue legal opinions,” adding that if it does, such advice would be “devoid of any validity.”
He further instructed the ministry’s staff not to request any legal advice from the A-G’s Office without his office’s approval. According to the minister, Baharv-Miara and her staff’s status is “no different than any other citizen.”
Although Baharav-Miara has not officially been ousted from her role, cabinet ministers, including Karhi, have said they would stop inviting her to government hearings and committee meetings effective immediately.
In a ruling last month, Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice Noam Sohlberg said no measure to dismiss the attorney-general would be valid until the decision is reviewed by the court.
In response to Karhi’s memo, opposition leader MK Yair Lapid said the ministry’s employees “have no reason to accept the authority of the communications minister, respect his directives, obey his orders, or comply with the void instructions of a criminal minister.”
Lapid further noted that his Yesh Atid faction would file a complaint against Karhi with the police on the grounds of incitement and sedition.
Israeli NGO calls on ministry staff to ignore Karhi's memo
The Zulat Institute for Equality and Human Rights called the minister a “criminal” in its response to the memo, adding that Karhi “seeks to turn his ministry’s employees into criminals themselves through an intimidation campaign.”
Zulat noted that the Attorney-General’s Office was in the process of blocking Karhi’s comprehensive plan to overhaul the broadcasting landscape, which the institute said would “seriously harm free media.”
Therefore, it noted, Karhi was “tainted with a serious conflict of interest and is in contempt of court,” calling on Communications Ministry staff to “completely ignore” his memo.
Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.