Ben-Gvir demands Baharav-Miara's removal to join Netanyahu's next coalition

Jerusalem Post/Israel News/Israel PoliticsNotably, Ben-Gvir's demand comes against the backdrop of prolonged clashes between Ben-Gvir and Baharav-Miara throughout the current government's term over a series of legal and policy issues.Follow us on GoogleNational Security Minister and Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir addresses reporters at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, June 22, 2026(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)ByANNA BARSKYJULY 21, 2026 20:34Otzma Yehudit chairman and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir made Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara's immediate dismissal and replacement a threshold condition for his party to join the next government, in a letter he sent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.In the letter, Ben-Gvir made clear that, from his perspective, Baharav-Miara's continued tenure was incompatible with continued coalition cooperation. He said the issue of the attorney-general would be a precondition for Otzma Yehudit's entry into the next government.The move comes against the backdrop of prolonged clashes between Ben-Gvir and Baharav-Miara throughout the current government's term over a series of legal and policy issues. The disputes included the national security minister's authority, police policy, senior appointments, and various government decisions.Ben-Gvir has repeatedly claimed that the attorney-general exceeds her authority and acts in a manner that prevents the elected government from implementing its policies. Baharav-Miara, for her part, has stressed throughout her tenure that her role is to ensure that government decisions are made in accordance with the law and the principles of administrative law.Attorney general Gali Baharav-Miara at a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset, in the Israeli parliament on September 30, 2025. (credit: OREN BEN HAKOON/FLASH90)Ben-Gvir: Fire AG or Otzma Yehudit stays out of coalition"At the beginning of the current government's term, after I quickly identified that the attorney-general appointed by the Bennett-Lapid-Abbas government, Gali Baharav-Miara, was acting in an adversarial manner against the elected government and with appalling unprofessionalism, I asked you to have the government act to remove her immediately from office," he wrote in his letter to Netanyahu. "In your response, you told me that 'I am a young minister' and that 'this is not how things are done.'"The minister went on to write that, since that conversation: "the attorney-general has not ceased acting to thwart government policy, manufacturing cases against its elected officials and the public servants it appointed, and trying to block senior appointments the government sought to advance, as well as attempting the unprecedented removal of me from my position as national security minister through a petition filed with the High Court of Justice."I hereby inform you unequivocally that the initial threshold condition for Otzma Yehudit to enter the next government is the removal of Gali Baharav-Miara from her position immediately upon the government's formation, and the immediate appointment of an attorney-general who does not rebel against the elected leadership and who works to help the government implement its policy, rather than thwarting it and its members," Ben-Gvir wrote."Alongside this, we will demand the establishment of an investigative committee with criminal investigative powers to investigate all the actions taken by Baharav-Miara and her staff. Without this condition being met, we will not be able to join the government."Follow us on Google