Israel’s Cabinet convened on Sunday and unanimously approved a motion of no-confidence in Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. Baharav-Miara refused to attend the meeting, a move slammed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who headed the meeting as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not attend due to a conflict of interest. At the beginning of the meeting, Levin said that he “views with great severity the Attorney General’s absence from the meeting,” and called it “further proof of the depth of contempt she has for the government and its members and that she has no answers to the claims against her.” Channel 14 News reported that Levin’s complaints were sent to Baharav-Miara several weeks ago in order to allow her adequate time to address the claims but she chose not to do so. Levin said: “The proposal we are bringing is to express a lack of confidence in the Attorney General.The Attorney General repeatedly thwarts government policy and does not offer alternatives and thwarts appointments in the civil service as was done in the case of the Civil Service Commissioner. In addition, she refused to represent the government as of the date of submission of the document 14 times, an increase of 2100 percent (!) compared to the previous government. And she was not even satisfied with that, but actually prevented the government from using alternative representation and insisted on ‘representing’ it in several cases against its position.” Baharav-Miara sent a letter to the ministers before the meeting in which she had the audacity to accuse the government of “acting above the law.” “The government seeks to be above the law and act without oversight and checks and balances, even in the most sensitive times – a state of emergency, protests against the government, and an election period,” she wrote. “The proposal seeks not confidence but loyalty to the political echelon. Not governance, but governmental power without limits.” “Since the establishment of the government, I and the entire government legal advisory system have been working together with the government to advance its policies,” she claimed. “The claim of a lack of effective cooperation is detached from reality. The data and facts speak for themselves.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)