Foreign Minister MK Gideon Sa’ar and the members of his United Right party remained silent in the hours following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s highly controversial announcement that he had decided to fire Ronen Bar.
The silence was notable, as many members of the other coalition parties, including from the Religious Zionist Party and the Likud, announced their support.
Haredi ministers and MKs also remained silent. While haredi MKs often refrain from commenting on issues connected to national security, Shas chairman MK Arye Deri is a permanent participant in National Security Cabinet meetings, and is deeply involved in decision-making regarding the war.
The decision comes at a sensitive moment for Sa’ar, who on Thursday announced an agreement to merge into the Likud party ahead of the next election.
The coalition agreement between the United Right and the Likud allows the former to vote interpedently on issues connected to the judicial reform, and many view the attempt to remove Bar as part of the same issue, as Bar is responsible for some of the sensitive investigations ongoing against people from the prime minister’s inner circle.
Conflict between government, attorney-general
Sa’ar expressed support in recent weeks in the initiative to remove Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara from her position, despite him being the one who appointed her during his tenure as Justice Minister.
Deputy Attorney-General Gil Limon wrote in a response to a letter by the Democrats party on the matter that while the government had the authority to remove Bar, the decision needed to adhere to administrative law, which means that it must be based on “solid factual evidence” and not based on “foreign interests”. Whether or not the decision met the necessary requirements depended on the A-G’s opinion, which would need to be given prior to the move.
While Netanyahu merely announced the move, he said that he will launch it at a government meeting this week. The A-G will likely not have an opinion ready by then, but the government may go ahead and approve the decision, regardless. The government is also expected to announce no-confidence in the attorney-general in the coming weeks.
The Democrats party demanded in a letter to Baharav-Miara on that she order the prime minister and government secretary to refrain from bringing the proposal to the government for a vote until it becomes clear whether or not the prime minister’s purpose was to block ongoing investigations into ties between his close advisors and the State of Qatar.
Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara wrote in a letter to Netanyahu later on Sunday evening that he cannot bring his decision to the government for approval until an “examination of the factual and legal foundations” is carried out.
This was because of the “extraordinary sensitivity of the issue; its unprecedented [nature]; the concern that the process is plagued by conflict-of-interest and illegality; and while noting that the position of Shin Bet head is not a personal appointment of the prime minister,” Baharav-Miara wrote.