Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara hit back against Justice Minister Yariv Levin in a Thursday night letter responding to his allegations on Wednesday that she had failed to properly represent him and had been interfering in governance.
Levin had claimed in a letter to Baharav-Miara that she was "trampling" on his rights for legal representation and had kept him in the dark ahead of next Thursday's High Court of Justice hearing on his refusal to convene the Judicial Selection Committee.
'Trampled rights'
Baharav-Miara rejected these claims, saying that here office had been in contact with Levin, and held a meeting to understand his position on August 13 to understand his position -- to which her office explained there was no means of defending under the law. She said that all legal solutions presented to Levin were rejected.
Levin refused to convene the committe, the attorney-general said, despite information provided to him on August 17 by the court administrative services that by the end of the year there would be 53 judge positions open, dramatically increasing the load on the already taxed system.
In response to Levin's assertions that Baharav-Miara wasn't thoroughly representing his positions with her filing to the court on Wednesday, she said that she had indeed included his positions in a professional manner.
Levin had complained that it wasn't a proper proceeding because the person representing him would be arguing in agreement with the petitioners, not in his favor. Baharav-Miara wrote that her office can only argue within the boundaries of what was legal.
The attorney-general said that the allegations that her office does not work to promote the policies of the government was not in accordance with the facts, and that they worked to further the coalition's agenda within the confines of the law.
The role of the Attorney-General's Office was to advise the government and to ensure that it operated in a legal fashion, she said. Brought into proper proportion, Baharav-Miara said her office dealt with hundreds of government decisions, dozens fo appointments and laws, and represented the government in thousands of cases before the court. She highlighted their cooperation in developing legal tools for combatting terrorism, Arab sector crime, and meeting the needs of settlements in the territories.
Claims that "the current government receives different treatment that previous ones, as well as threats of dismissal reported in the media will not deter me and my people from continuing to fulfill our roles," Baharav-Miara wrote.