Channel 12 news said Netanyahu wanted a probe into the ongoing war and how the military campaign against Hamas has been handled to be opened and then closed, with an update filed to the ICC that the charges had been investigated by Israel and therefore do not require the court’s intervention.
According to the report, Baharav-Miara rejected the request on the grounds that it was a blatant ploy and would not satisfy the ICC.
(August 27, 2024)
Monday night, the Maki Haifa Branch was shut down by the police for an event that included a screening of Mohammed Bakri’s new film. Bakri’s earlier film, Jenin, Jenin, was banned by an Israeli Court in 2021. Adalah demands immediate intervention by the Attorney General to ensure police will not obstruct the next screening. This action is part of broader Israeli police policies designed to suppress dissent against Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza.
We urge the Attorney General not to remain silent when the police transform into a political tool, targeting those who dissent from the government‘s stance.
Particularly in times of war, it is crucial to safeguard freedom of expression and the right to protest.
The warnings against a razor-thin vote, which would tear the people apart in a time of war, turned out to be mendacious manipulation. Netanyahu is more interested in the next decision: the law preventing the attorney general from declaring him unfit for office
The compromise, as reported, aimed to freeze all further judicial overhaul legislation in return for granting the coalition more power on the Judicial Selection Committee in the form of veto power on the selection of the Supreme Court president and lower court judges.
But today’s report says Netanyahu was adamant that any freeze still allow a potential “override clause” to be legislated with a regular majority, in the event that the High Court of Justice nullifies the government’s law shielding the premier from being ordered by courts or the attorney general to step down.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara rejected the idea, noting that it would violate Arab citizens’ democratic rights.
One of the four victims killed earlier tonight in Abu Snan was running in the upcoming race. The director of Tira gunned down last night was also targeted in a dispute related to the upcoming election.
Silman wrote a letter to Baharav-Miara on Wednesday, stating that the project had been initiated „following appeals by Haredi and Arab communities.“
However, it has come to light that an extreme right-wing organization has significantly influenced this project.
The Shin Bet security service reportedly warned Sunday of mounting threats against Supreme Court President Esther Hayut and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, both of whom have been central targets of right-wing figures for their opposition to certain government moves.
The warnings were expressed during a situational assessment held by the agency Sunday, Channel 13 news reported.
Supreme Court President Esther Hayut observed that the “fingerprints” of a plan designed to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from being ordered to recuse himself were “very clear,” while her fellow panel member Justice Uzi Vogelman said simply that “the fact is the law is personal.”
The court’s three most senior justices presided over Thursday’s five-hour hearing, in a case in which, for the first time ever, the attorney general has joined petitioners in asking for a Basic Law to be canceled.
The conflict of interest agreement, signed in 2020, states that Netanyahu has conflicts of interest concerning appointments in the law enforcement system, given his trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. This means Netanyahu is barred from making judicial appointments, or getting involved in legislative matters that may impact his ongoing trial. Netanyahu signed the arrangement three years ago when then-attorney general Avichai Mandelblit drew up the arrangement to prevent Netanyahu from being declared unfit for office.
After passing the law, Netanyahu publicly stated that he would not stop his judicial overhaul and would be directly involved in the process despite the conflict of interest agreement.
Today, 8:33 pm
A top law enforcement official tells Channel 12 he believes the government’s aim in eliminating the reasonableness standard is now to appoint “a general prosecutor who is ‘one of ours.‘”
“It’s all about who will close [Netanyahu’s] criminal case,” the unnamed official says.
“This is what the country has lost its democracy for. Awful.”
It would be highly unusual for the prime minister to fire the attorney general but also rather difficult as long as the Supreme Court can use the reasonableness test to reinstate her. Should that be removed from judges’ toolkits, however, it would be easier.
(today)
The minister pointed to widespread “chaos” the day before, when anti-overhaul protesters blocked roads and disrupted train services while, he said, the attorney general “doesn’t see anything.”
“In my opinion, she is the most dangerous person in the country today,” Amsalem said. “In practice, there is a revolt going on in the IDF, and the attorney general doesn’t see, doesn’t hear.”
(9 July 2023)
“There’s no intelligence, no arrest on the nights [of the protests], no investigations of [former Supreme Court chief justice] Aharon Barak or Ehud Barak. You’re hurting? Protest — just like people have since the establishment of the state. But why riot? It’s lawlessness,” he said, adding: “Ehud Barak, in my opinion, should have been in the interrogation room some time ago.
The petition, filed on April 19, 2023, is supported by a number of former political and military leaders, including former Chief of Staff Dan Halutz.
The Supreme Court’s decision comes amid Netanyahu’s attempts to bring about changes to the judiciary, even though he is on trial in three criminal cases.
Attorney General Ghali Bharav Miara warned Netanyahu last March against interfering in amendments to the judiciary, as he is prohibited from doing so due to his appearance in corruption cases.
On the disturbances caused by the demonstrations the attorney general added „Demonstrations are not, by their very nature, quiet and comforting. If they were – they would lose their sting.“ One minister present in the meeting said Netanyahu characterized Baharav-Miara‘s statements as shocking and mentioned the protest which left his wife, Sara Netanyahu, under siege.
According to the minister, Netanyahu had to rein in several of his ministers who called repeatedly for Baharav-Miara to resign or be fired.
Because Israel has no constitution and lacks a tradition of respecting the law and fundamental democratic principles, it’s enough to replace a few key people – the attorney general, the governor of the Bank of Israel, the Supreme Court president, the police commissioner and of course the heads of the security services – to pave a fast lane to tyranny and internal repression.
So it’s obvious why Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir and their colleagues are working to replace a cadre of top officials in government agencies and making it clear that their replacements will be judged by only one criterion – their willingness to please the government and obey it without question.
For this saga to end now, one of two things has to happen: Either the prosecution has to withdraw the indictment, or Netanyahu has to admit to some of the charges and leave office immediately. But the prime minister is now breathing easy and praising the judges whom he previously suspected of being leftists. And Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who views the court’s position as a colossal mistake, is currently determined to go all the way, including to the Supreme Court.
Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan, a key witness in one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption cases, is set to testify at the premier’s corruption trial via video link from Brighton, England, beginning on Sunday.
The film producer is a witness in Case 1000 — one of three in which Netanyahu faces charges — involving suspicions that the premier illicitly accepted gifts including cigars and champagne from Milchan and another billionaire, James Packer.
According to the report, during a routine hearing at the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday, the judges engaged in a fifteen-minute discussion with the State Prosecutor‘s Office and Netanyahu‘s defense team and the other defendants, Shaul and Iris Elovich.
The judges reportedly emphasized that „the good of the state requires a settlement.“
(22.06.2023)
According to Walla and Channel 13, the judges convened with state prosecutors and Netanyahu’s defense team in their chambers in order to discuss the complexities involved in substantiating the bribery charge against the prime minister in Case 4000, the most significant of the three cases against Netanyahu that make up the trial.
Also known as the Bezeq-Walla case, it focuses on allegations that Netanyahu, during a previous tenure as prime minister, authorized regulatory decisions that financially benefited Bezeq telecommunications giant shareholder Shaul Elovitch by hundreds of millions of shekels.
(21.06.2023)
At the start of the hearing in Netanyahu’s ongoing trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, the three judges summoned both sides’ lawyers to their chamber for a private consultation. However, they declined to say what the discussion had been about.
(…)
He also said that then-editor in chief Avi Alkalay routinely altered articles in ways that benefited Netanyahu. “There were also articles that were shelved,” he added.
Asked by prosecutor Yael Shahaf how Alkalay explained his behavior, Borochov said Alkalay told him “that he coordinates things with the Prime Minister’s Office,” and that if “things didn’t go the way they should,” he would be replaced with an editor in chief chosen by Netanyahu
This embarrassing conduct on the part of the police would not have happened if it hadn’t been for the guiding spirit of their bosses – Netanyahu; Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister responsible for the police; and Kobi Shabtai, the police commander, who is currently trying to win reappointment for his fourth year on the job. In addition, Yoram Sofer, the police commander responsible for Caesarea, who Shabtai despises, considers himself a candidate to replace Shabtai. Sofer is currently Ben-Gvir’s candidate to command the Tel Aviv district police.
“As Israel moves closer to become a dictatorship, Ben Gvir, the Minister of National Security demands grow louder to have his own nationalist militia guard,” said the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI).
ACRI contacted Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to point out that this dangerous intention should be stopped immediately: “The national guard he dreams of creating is called ‘Return of the Governance’ and he does not even try to hide its true purpose. His aim is to create a nationalist guard that will serve his racist agenda directly, targeting pro-democracy protesters and Arab citizens alike.”
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara will reportedly need to decide whether the Netanyahu trial should be transferred out of the Jerusalem District Court, which is currently handling it.
Discussions have been taking place behind closed doors in front of a District Court judge with no minutes recorded.
(Jan 22, 2023)
In 2021, the High Court of Justice ruled that a conflict of interest arrangement formulated under then former attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit was binding for Netanyahu.
The arrangement prohibits Netanyahu from being involved in the nomination of judges or of the police commissioner and from being involved in legislation that has an impact on the criminal proceedings against him.
Hayut said the clause “will deprive the court of the option to override laws that disproportionately violate human rights, including the right to life, property, freedom of movement, as well as the basic right of human dignity and its derivatives – the right to equality, freedom of speech and more.”
The planned override clause authorizes the Knesset, with the support of the government, to make laws without obstruction that would hurt these rights. That’s why anyone who thinks that this override clause overrides the court is mistaken. It’s actually an override of human rights in every aspect of Israeli society.”
On Saturday, police in Haifa detained for questioning three Arab protesters who waved Palestinian flags and, on the same day, other police stopped a performance by the Palestinian rapper Tamer Nafar in the Christmas Market in the village of Kafr Yasif, claiming that his songs incite the state (See page 3).
These events are serious. They signal a change for the worse in the attitude, bad to begin with, toward the Palestinian minority, and they seem to be an attempt to criminalize Palestinian identity. The song that led police to stop Nafar’s show was “Salam Ya Sakhbi” – about violence in Arab society.
Roni Alsheich – who led police investigation into former premier – suggests AG seek plea bargain as ‘our democracy is not yet ready to prosecute a sitting PM’
Balad and several of its lawmakers have been disqualified by past elections panels, and have so far won every appeal to the High Court to be reinstated. The party is expected to make a similar appeal to return to November’s contest following Thursday’s disqualification.
Earlier on Thursday, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara released a letter to the committee stating that there was no basis for disqualifying either Balad or the Islamist Ra’am party. The panel ultimately cleared Ra’am’s path to the ballot box, dismissing petitions that alleged the party supported terrorist organizations.