MK Mkalef blasts attorney general in heated Knesset immunity debate

A stormy Knesset session on Wednesday centered on a request to strip Likud MK Tali Gottlieb of parliamentary immunity, and United Torah Judaism faction chair Uri Maklev used the debate to mount a sharp attack on Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. Maklev said he would oppose lifting Gottlieb’s immunity “with a clear conscience,” arguing that the case had exposed the attorney general’s real conduct.

“She sold and exploited her position for evil and wickedness,” Maklev told the plenum, adding that she was damaging the role and status of the legal adviser. He said the proceeding against Gottlieb had turned into a public indictment of Baharav-Miara herself, and compared it to the Kastner trial, saying that “the accuser became the accused, and the accused became the accuser.”

Maklev also accused the attorney general of poor priorities, saying that while she advances proceedings against elected officials, other serious matters have been left on her desk for months without treatment. He concluded that his bloc would preserve Gottlieb’s immunity and act “with a clear conscience.”

The immunity fight is tied to Gottlieb’s social media posts, which according to an unusual Shin Bet intelligence assessment put a senior security official and his family in real danger. A classified “top secret” document was shown to lawmakers during the immunity hearings.