MADRID 14 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Israel’s Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to evaluate the suitability of Itamar Ben Gvir as Minister of National Security due to a series of appointments and dismissals within the Police that “constitutes an illegitimate intervention in the functioning” of the institution.
According to Baharav-Miara, Ben Gvir could have violated decisions and orders of the Supreme Court by interfering in the operational matters of the Police. “It appears that the minister is using his authority to make appointments and terminate the mandate of officials in a way that constitutes an illegitimate intervention,” the prosecutor told Netanyahu.
Thus, Baharav-Miara has highlighted that the misuse of these powers, added to this supposed “illegitimate” intervention in the “operational activity” of the security forces, means that Ben Gvir is “harming the possibility of guaranteeing that the Police can act out of a sense of duty towards the population and not towards the political sphere,” reports ‘The Times of Israel’.
Among Ben Gvir’s interference in the Police Force, the prosecutor highlighted that the minister had summoned senior officials to reprimand them for their management of the anti-government protests, as well as his visit to an operations room to, according to him, ensure that that the police complied with their orders.
Thus, for prosecutor Baharav-Miara it is evident that Ben Gvir’s attitudes reflect a pattern of behavior of total “contempt for the law”, violate the legislation and significantly harm “the founding principles of governance”, as well as as a “politicization of police work.”
For all this, the prosecutor has asked Netanyahu to address this matter and ask Ben Gvir to respond to the accusations. In addition, he has urged the prime minister to hold a joint meeting to analyze the petitions from the Supreme Court, which demand the dismissal of the Minister of National Security.