Attorney General Accused of Misleading Court on Minister's Speech

Israel's Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is facing accusations of misleading the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Noam Sohlberg, regarding the State's position on a planned speech by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to community security squads. According to Channel 14 news, Baharav-Miara informed Sohlberg that she and the police opposed Ben-Gvir's speech. However, sources within the police claim that the police themselves had not officially opposed the speech and had explicitly requested that their opposition be removed from the official response submitted to the court, leaving only the Attorney General's objection. Documents reportedly show the police legal advisor's notes requesting the removal of references attributing the opposition to the police. Police sources described a "war over the wording of the response," stating that the Attorney General was unaccustomed to the police's legal counsel disagreeing with her and ultimately "acted on her own" by submitting her preferred response and "concealing the truth" from Sohlberg. Despite the controversy, Justice Sohlberg ultimately rejected the petition, allowing Ben-Gvir to deliver his speech. The Attorney General's office did not provide a comment, and the police stated that their position had been conveyed to the relevant parties.