Israeli Cabinet Moves to Fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara

The Israeli cabinet passed a no-confidence motion on Sunday against the country’s attorney general to begin the process of dismissing her. Critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the move part of his effort to curb the independence of the judiciary and purge officials he considers disloyal.

Mr. Netanyahu and his allies have accused the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, of undermining them. The no-confidence vote against her, as well as the cabinet’s approval days before of the firing of Israel’s domestic intelligence chief, has rekindled street protests reminiscent of the upheaval over government plans to overhaul the judiciary before the war with Hamas began in 2023.

In a letter addressed to the cabinet on Sunday, Ms. Baharav-Miara said the no-confidence motion was not part of the formal process that would be legally required for her removal. She added that Mr. Netanyahu’s government sought to put itself “above the law, to act without checks and balances, even at the most sensitive of times,” referring among other things to the war in Gaza.

Legal experts say firing Ms. Baharav-Miara is likely to be a weekslong process because of longstanding checks meant to protect her role’s independence. Her dismissal would first have to be considered by a special appointments committee that is currently lacking some members and cannot convene until the vacancies are filled.

Israel’s minister of justice and deputy prime minister, Yariv Levin, who brought the no-confidence motion before the cabinet, issued a statement after the decision saying that the full support of the ministers and their harsh words about Ms. Baharav-Miara “testify to the intensity of the rift that the attorney general has caused in her relations with the government.”

Mr. Levin said he would follow due process for her dismissal but added that he expected her to tender her resignation immediately, “as any person with integrity would have done in this situation,” to allow her successor to be chosen without delay. Ms. Baharav-Miara had been summoned to attend the cabinet meeting but chose not to appear.