- THE TIMES OF ISRAEL - STAFF - MAR 12, 2023 -
PM’s comment comes after Baharav-Miara froze Tel Aviv police chief’s transfer ordered by Ben Gvir, and warned against bill to grant security forces immunity from prosecution
In comments apparently aimed at Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned against interference in running the nation’s security bodies.
“In a functioning democracy, the elected government is responsible for the army, the police, and the other security agencies. That’s how it must be, and woe betide us if it is not so,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
He was apparently referring to Baharav-Miara’s decision last week to order a freeze on the transfer of Tel Aviv police commander Amichai Eshed amid concerns it was politically motivated.
“It is not only anchored in law; it is anchored in common sense. There is no one else to determine who will command these bodies, who will lead them, and how they will be led,” Netanyahu charged.
Netanyahu added that such a system “is the basis of every democracy and society, and if you undermine it, you undermine the very existence of democracy.”
Baharav-Miara froze Eshed’s transfer amid concerns it had been instigated by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir in a breach of the minister’s permitted behavior.
And hours before Netanyahu’s comments, a pause was placed on a sweeping proposal to grant legal immunity to Israeli security forces, after Baharav-Miara warned the bill would expose troops to foreign prosecution and pose grave dangers for the relationship between Israeli public and law enforcement.
Netanyahu also hit back at opponents of his government’s contentious plan to radically overhaul the judiciary, saying that “there is no conditional Zionism.”
“You can’t be in favor of Israel’s economy and encourage the withdrawal of funds from Israel. You can’t be in favor of the rule of law and encourage violations of the law. You can’t be in favor of national security and encourage refusal [to serve] to collapse the security of the state. You cannot say ‘I support the country’ but ‘If you don’t accept my position I will leave the country,’” he said.
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