Israel’s Attorney General Says Ben-Gvir Interfered in Police Ops

Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara requested Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to reconsider the position of Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir owing to political intervention in police operations, Israeli media reported.

This, according to Baharav-Miara, “undermines the assurance that the police will act in loyalty to the public rather than the politicians.”

“The combination of the alleged improper interventions in police operations and the dependency of police officers on the minister for their promotions undermines the assurance that the police will act in loyalty to the public rather than the politicians.”

The legal pressures on Ben-Gvir stem from accusations that he overstepped his authority by intervening in police operations, particularly regarding protests opposing Netanyahu’s controversial judicial overhaul.

In March, the High Court of Justice ordered Ben-Gvir to stop issuing operational directives to the police about managing demonstrations and further restricted his influence over police actions in January 2024.

Despite this, the attorney general and the “State Attorney’s Office” contend that Ben-Gvir continued to exert undue pressure on police forces, violating court orders and raising constitutional concerns.

In a letter to Netanyahu after a petition to the High Court of Justice challenging Ben-Gvir’s position, she stated that the incidents in the petition, as well as those preceding it, “create a rare, severe, and ongoing pattern of law violations, breaches of duty, and harm to fundamental governance principles, alongside the politicization of police work.”

The Attorney General also noted that during his time in office, Ben-Gvir made statements that could dissuade judges from fulfilling their duties, undermine their decisions in the eyes of police officers, intimidate law enforcement officials, and delegitimize investigations into police misconduct by the Police Internal Investigations Department, thus eroding respect for its work.

Netanyahu’s office is yet to respond to the letter despite Ben-Gvir describing it on X as “an attempt to overthrow the Prime Minister and the ministers due to their political positions.”

Ben-Gvir has made outlandish and highly inflammatory comments ranging from encouraging the execution of Palestinian detainees, calling for the rebuilding of Zionist settlements in Gaza, and saying he would build a synagogue in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied city of al-Quds.

Netanyahu responds to ‘witch hunt’ media attacks

The Israeli occupation’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the recent Israeli media attacks against his office a “wild and uncontrolled attack,” accusing the media and internal sources of orchestrating a “witch hunt” aimed at undermining his leadership during the ongoing war on Gaza.

Netanyahu has called for an urgent investigation into a series of security leaks involving “state secrets” since the start of the war on Gaza, which have sparked a growing scandal, implicating officials within the premier’s office, including his security spokesperson.

In a statement made public over the weekend, Netanyahu claimed there was misinformation flooding the media since the start of the war. The leaks, according to Netanyahu, have been “criminal and serious” and have often been accompanied by “lies and baseless slanders,” which he believes are not only harming his office but also endangering national security.

“While the government and the cabinet I lead are working tirelessly to repel our enemies, I am managing the war and deflecting international attacks, yet we now face another front — the fake news from the media,” Netanyahu said.