High Court refused to participate in the show the government staged against the Attorney General

The High Court rejected the government's request to declare Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara as having disrespected the court, and refused to serve as a platform for a political campaign against her. The justices clarified that the previous ruling did not address appointment procedures during an election period, and that the door is open for a new petition.

The High Court yesterday (Tuesday) rejected the government's request to declare Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara as having disrespected the court, and refused to serve as a platform for the political campaign the government waged against her. Justices Yael Wilner, Ofer Grosskopf, and Khaled Kabub clarified that the July ruling, which canceled the appointment of Yehuda Eliyahu as Director General of the Israel Land Authority due to his close ties to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, did not include any binding determination regarding the appointment of a permanent director general during an election period. The government argued that the Attorney General is acting to "thwart the ruling" by preventing a permanent appointment, but the court determined that the claims do not pertain to the original ruling. The analysis notes that the appeal to the High Court is a political stunt within an election campaign, and that the government itself has turned the avoidance of filling senior positions into a governing strategy.