Ben-Gvir ‘illegally intervened in police work', says attorney general

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
2 Jan 2024 00:28
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The Israeli Attorney General accuses the Police Minister of "wrongfully and illegally" intervening in police work.

Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attends the weekly Israeli war cabinet meeting at an Israeli military base in "Tel Aviv", occupied Palestine, December 31, 2023. (AP)

Israeli Police Minister and extremist, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has faced backlash over accusations of intervention in Israeli "police work", The Times of Israel reported.

Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara told the Israeli High Court that Ben-Gvir "wrongfully and illegally intervened in police work" related to the weekly demonstrations held by Israelis in protest of governmental decisions spearheaded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Although under Israeli law, Ben-Gvir can set policy regarding the work of occupation police forces, he is not permitted to instruct the force on specific situations.

Several Israeli organizations petitioned the occupation's High Court to prevent Ben-Gvir from instructing occupation police officers on protests in November.

Baharav-Miara said a review of Ben-Gvir's interventions indicated that he "crossed a line" into "forbidden intervention", according to the Israeli media outlet.

Attorney General 'hates Ben-Gvir'

In response, Itamar Ben Gvir’s office said the Israeli Attorney General bears “hatred for Minister Ben Gvir," adding that "there is no incident that reached the court in which the attorney general does not act against Minister Ben Gvir."

The extremist Police Minister's office also accused Baharav-Miara of being "biased" and "agenda-driven", stressing that he will continue "to instruct police to uphold the law."

The bout between the two Israeli officials is part of a larger crisis unfolding within official Israeli spheres. The crisis was instigated by a charge led by Netanyahu's government to implement "reforms" to several pillars of Israeli governance, including the jurisdictions of the occupation's Supreme Court.

Supreme Court deepens political crisis

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli Supreme Court overturned legislation approved earlier this year that limited judicial scrutiny of the government, thus nullifying an element of one of "Israel's" quasi-constitutional Basic Laws for the first time.

The court was almost evenly divided on the extremely contentious legislation, which abolished judicial use of the "reasonableness" criteria — the only key bill from the government's judicial makeover agenda to be approved thus far. Eight justices voted to overturn the statute, while seven voted to keep it.

In detail, the ruling establishes in legal precedent the High Court's contention that it has, in limited circumstances, the right to annul Basic Laws, although they stand as the foundation of authority for all institutions, including the court.

It is worth noting that the ruling comes at a time when the Israeli military and political command leads an unprecedented brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip, which has been described as an existential war for the Israeli occupation.