Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara on Thursday wrote to Justice Minister Yariv Levin, stating that his decision to file a disciplinary complaint against Supreme Court Chief Justice Isaac Amit "lacks factual basis and has no legal validity."
"We received a notice from Attorney Asher Ohayon, who presented himself as representing you in a disciplinary complaint that you intend to file soon against [Amit], regarding a property in Mevaseret Zion... It was determined that the findings do not indicate inappropriate behavior for the status of a judge in Israel."
According to Baharav-Miara's letter, Levin accused Amit of owning an illegally-built property in Mevaseret Zion. The investigation, conducted in early 2025, determined that a construction violation had occurred when the property was originally built, but Amit had corrected it before he moved in.
"The power of the justice minister to file a disciplinary complaint against a judge is [to be used in] exceptional and extraordinary [circumstances]. It carries real potential for harming judicial independence and for the undue involvement of political considerations [in judicial affairs].
Baharav-Miara explicitly stated that such a complaint must be filed after consultation with the attorney-general, as has been done in the past. For this reason, among others, leading her to conclude that Levin's actions "lack legal validity."
Levin responds, accuses A-G of being in cahoots with Amit
In response to the attorney-general's letter, the justice minister's office issued a statement saying that Levin "outright rejects the letter from Attorney Baharav-Miara, which is all one big criminal offense." Notably, the statement did not use the attorney-general's full title.
Levin further claimed that the investigations into Amit's construction offenses had been "closed without any investigation" and that her Thursday letter constituted a "serious and extreme case of a conflict of interest."
Baharav-Miara, according to the justice minister's office, is protecting Amit in exchange for his protecting her from dismissal from her position.
"Minister Levin will continue to work to exhaust the disciplinary complaint procedures in the case of Judge Amit," the letter concluded.