A legal showdown looms in Israel as Netanyahu moves to oust top
officials
[March 24, 2025]
By TIA GOLDENBERG
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel again is fighting a war on multiple
fronts, but a battle is also brewing inside the country.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have joined anti-government protests in
recent days. A former Supreme Court chief justice has warned of civil
war. And experts are saying a constitutional crisis could be on the
horizon if the Israeli government moves ahead with plans to fire top
legal and security officials.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last week he was
firing Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet internal security service,
citing a crisis of confidence sparked by the failures to prevent Hamas’
Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Netanyahu's government has also launched a
process to dismiss the attorney general, accusing her of obstructing its
agenda.
The moves come as the Shin Bet is investigating a possible infiltration
of Netanyahu’s office by an Arab country and as Netanyahu is on trial
for corruption.
They are setting up a showdown between Netanyahu and the judiciary that
is deepening divisions in Israel and could set off upheaval at a time
when Israel is bogged down by war.
Tensions between the government and state institutions
Netanyahu's government launched a sweeping overhaul of the judiciary in
early 2023, a process that touched off mass protests.
Critics said the overhaul would undermine the country's delicate system
of checks and balances by granting too much power to Netanyahu. He and
his governing coalition argued the judiciary had become overly
interventionist and was blocking its legislative agenda.
Opponents also criticized Netanyahu for promoting the changes while on
trial for corruption. They say a strong and independent judiciary is a
necessary safeguard against authoritarian rule.
Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks, which sparked the war in Gaza, paused the
overhaul. But it opened up new divisions in the country over who
shouldered blame for not preventing the deadliest day in Israel's
history.
Netanyahu has sidestepped accepting responsibility, seeking instead to
point a finger at the heads of the military and the Shin Bet. He has
long blamed the “deep state” for wanting to topple his rule.
In a surprise announcement last week, Netanyahu said he was dismissing
Bar, sparking mass protests by critics who said the move would undermine
Israel's independent state institutions and was meant as punishment for
the Shin Bet's investigation into Netanyahu's office, or to derail it
entirely.
The step helped usher the far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir back into
Netanyahu's government, bolstering the Israeli leader's rule ahead of a
key budget vote. Ben-Gvir had resigned weeks earlier to protest a
temporary ceasefire, and his return to office came hours after the
resumption of the war in Gaza.
Bar himself said he had planned to leave his post in due time, including
after he wrapped up the sensitive investigations into whether the Gulf
state of Qatar — which has close ties with Hamas — had hired Netanyahu
advisers to launch an influence campaign in Israel. Netanyahu has
suggested, with little evidence, that the probe was a result of
collusion between Bar and the attorney general as a way to thwart the
domestic security chief's dismissal.
Netanyahu's government on Sunday voted to remove Attorney General Gali
Baharav-Miara, beginning a process that could take weeks.
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In this image made from a video released by the Israeli Government
Press Office, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement
Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Israeli Government
Press Office via AP)
Disobeying the Supreme Court could bring chaos
In a country with no official constitution and just one house of
parliament that is controlled by Netanyahu's coalition, Israel's
Supreme Court has long served as an important check on government
decisions.
The decision to dismiss Bar already has been challenged at the
court, which issued an injunction that froze the move until further
hearings. In the coming weeks, the court will be expected to rule on
whether the dismissal was legal and whether there was a conflict of
interest in light of the Qatar investigation.
With the attorney general, the government passed a largely symbolic
decision Sunday calling for her dismissal. A committee, which is
expected to be stacked with Netanyahu's allies, will hear the
government's and Baharav-Miara's positions before issuing a
recommendation. Only then will Netanyahu's government make its final
decision on her fate.
If the committee goes ahead with her dismissal, it will likely face
a challenge in the Supreme Court. Once again, it is expected to
decide whether Netanyahu has a conflict of interest because he is
firing the official who serves as the head of the public
prosecution's office that is trying him for corruption.
It is unclear whether the government would accept a decision it does
not like.
“The dangerous scenario is if they don't accept the ruling,” said
Amir Fuchs, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, a
Jerusalem think tank. That would prompt a crisis over which
authority's rule should be followed — the court's or the
government's -- and could lead to chaos, he said.
Fears are mounting over internal strife
Those fears have grown since the dismissals were set in motion. In a
series of media interviews this weekend, 88-year-old Aharon Barak,
Israel's preeminent legal mind, aired his concerns over the eruption
of a potential civil war. He also joined nearly 20 former Supreme
Court judges in a letter Sunday saying that firing the attorney
general threatens the rule of law.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called for a tax revolt if the
government disobeys the ruling. The leader of the country's top
labor union said ignoring a court ruling was a red line, suggesting
he might launch general strikes in response.
The warnings have been eerily similar to 2023, when the legal
overhaul was announced. Tens of thousands of people poured into the
streets in sustained protests.
General strikes were called and reservists threatened to not report
for military service if the overhaul went ahead. Military service is
compulsory for most Jews at the age of 18, but the army relies
heavily on older reserve units, especially during wartime. Such
internal strife was seen by some analysts as a factor in the timing
of Hamas’ attack. That upheaval could be just a precursor.
“Disobeying the courts is an illegal act,” wrote commentator Nadav
Eyal in the Yediot Ahronot daily. The result could be “widespread
civil disobedience, the type of which the government will not
survive.”
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