Justice Minister Levin will be temporarily appointed as minister of labor, religious services, and Jerusalem and Israel heritage, while Prime Minister Netanyahu will also become minister of interior
The government is expected to approve the temporary appointment of ministers to recently vacated offices on Sunday, after the withdrawal of the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties from the coalition.
According to the proposal, Justice Minister Yariv Levin will also be appointed as the labor minister, the religious services minister, and the Jerusalem and Israel heritage minister.
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Levin's role as interior minister will temporarily be transferred to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Haredi factions agree to appointments
The decision requires Knesset approval, and the coalition has coordinated with the haredi factions to ensure they will vote in favor, a commitment they confirmed in light of progress on the draft law.
PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin attend a cabinet meeting. (credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)
The appointment is expected to be brought to a plenum vote as early as Monday.
According to the police, a 36-year-old suspect was arrested and transferred for questioning in connection with a letter containing a threat to harm the A-G.
Israel Police opened an investigation after finding a letter containing a threat to harm Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara in Jerusalem, Israel Police stated on Wednesday.
According to the police, a 36-year-old suspect was arrested and transferred for questioning in connection with the letter. He is expected to be brought before a court for an extension of his detention to continue the investigation into his actions on Thursday.
The investigation was opened at the request of the Religious Services Ministry, after former Sephardi chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef warned ha had received a letter asking for permission to hurt the A-G.
“The rabbi’s office was alerted to a threat that appears real and may immediately endanger the life of the Attorney-General,” the police stated.
Another letter with a direct threat to Baharav-Miara was found later on near a residential building in Jerusalem, according to the police.
Attorney-General Gali Baharv-Miara seen with Justice Minister Yariv Levin at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on October 1, 2024 (credit: OREN BEN HAKOON/POOL)
A-G Baharav-Miara’s firing and its fight with the government
For the last couple of months, the Israeli government has been in a fight with the A-G with the objective of taking her out of the position.
“The locks on the minister’s office in Tel Aviv were indeed changed, but it is the minister’s office and not of Gali Baharav-Miara’s. Her attempt to make unauthorized use of the minister’s office is another example of puzzling behavior on the part of someone who has already been removed from her position,” Levin said.
Baharav-Miara explained that “the decades-long custom in the Justice Ministry is that the staff of the Attorney-General’s Office sits at the Tel Aviv offices.”
“Only after the government decision [to fire Baharav-Miara] was a one-sided decision reached to block the A-G’s access from the office – and all with no explanation,” she wrote.
She added that this defies the High Court order not to change any aspect of her job. “It appears that the goal of this act was to harm the attorney-general’s standing and professionalism.”