‘Fake News’: Attorney-general denies plan to order Netanyahu to step down

Amid backlash, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara dismisses reports that she had intended to force the prime minister to resign.

By World Israel News Staff

According to Hebrew media reports, Gali Baharav-Miara was considering ordering Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take a leave of absence on the basis that his involvement in government plans for judicial reform constitutes a conflict of interest resulting from his ongoing corruption trial.

Baharav-Miara and legal experts in her office have reportedly been examining a 2021 ruling by Supreme Court Justice Hanan Melcer, which states that only the attorney general has the authority to make such a call.

Reacting to the reports, government coalition heads accused Baharav-Miara of orchestrating a coup.

“Such a move for an incumbent leader is a clearly illegal attempt to oust an elected and legal government,” they said in a letter to Baharv-Miara.

The attorney general denied the reports, calling them “fake news.”

“In response to your letter, and without reacting to the issues as you have described them, I want to clarify that contrary to reports in the media, I have not held discussions relating to the leave of absence for the prime minister,” she stated.

2022 electionsAttorney GeneralCoupGali Baharav MiaraJudicial reform