Netanyahu Fires Attorney General as Domestic Pressure over Gaza Heats up

The Washington Post

13:15 JST, August 5, 2025

TEL AVIV – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government voted unanimously Monday to dismiss his attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, the chief prosecutor in his ongoing corruption case, as he faces growing criticism inside Israel and U.S. impatience over his government’s management of the war in Gaza.

The vote to remove Baharav-Miara, a frequent critic of the government’s policies, marks one of the more significant steps in Netanyahu’s years-long effort to exert political influence over the country’s legal system. It is also expected to lead to a confrontation between the elected government and the appointed justices on Israel’s Supreme Court, who will review and rule on the legality of Baharav-Miara’s removal.

Immediately after the vote, opposition party Yesh Atid filed a petition to block the move, as did the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a watchdog group that said the vote would politicize the office of the attorney general. In response, Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg issued a temporary order freezing the decision.

In a letter to her staff, Baharav-Miara wrote that the government’s decision was unlawful. “Political pressure will not deter us from continuing to perform our duties with statesmanship, professionalism, and integrity,” she wrote.

According to a draft resolution released last week, cabinet ministers said the move was necessary because the government had “no confidence whatsoever” in Baharav-Miara. Netanyahu’s supporters say she routinely overstepped, including in March, when she blocked the prime minister’s move to fire the head of Israel’s internal security service, Ronen Bar. Baharav-Miara said the dismissal was improper because Netanyahu and some of his closest aides were facing several criminal investigations.

The political turmoil Monday unfolded as Netanyahu faced renewed pressure to end the war. On Sunday, 19 former Israeli military, security and intelligence chiefs released a video criticizing the government for prolonging the conflict and failing to plan for the day after. Together, they warned Israel that the government was harming the country’s security, and urged the prime minister to stop military operations in Gaza and secure a deal to release the remaining hostages.

“There are situations where a black flag must be raised, and we must say, this ends here,” said Moshe Yaalon, a former chief of staff for the Israeli military.

“Right now, we have a government that has been dragged by messianics into an irrational direction,” he added, referring to the far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition. Those members, including several cabinet ministers, oppose negotiating with Hamas and have called on the prime minister to reoccupy Gaza and allow them to rebuild Jewish settlements there.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff was also in Israel over the weekend to discuss efforts to pressure Hamas. On Saturday, he met with the families of hostages in Hostages Square – the central Tel Aviv plaza where tens of thousands have gathered for weekly protests – to relay a message that the United States was now pursuing a more inclusive hostage release agreement, one that would require Hamas to free all those still in captivity in exchange for a formal end to the conflict.

In recent days, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group in Gaza, triggered mass street protests in Tel Aviv after they released videos showing two male hostages emaciated and begging to be saved. Israelis were horrified by the footage of the two hostages: 24-year-old Evyatar David – who was shown shirtless, his bones protruding as he was forced to dig what he said could be his own grave – and Rom Braslavski, 22, who was seen lying on a mattress and pleading for food.

Monday’s cabinet vote took place “as our hostages are dying in the tunnels, as Israeli society is tearing itself apart,” Yair Golan, an Israeli opposition politician, said at a demonstration near the Knesset on Monday afternoon. Israel’s government, Golan said, “is not dealing with freeing the hostages, ending the war. … It is not bothered with Israel’s safety.”

During almost two years of war, military and security officials, as well as the families of hostages, have warned that Israel’s ground invasion endangers those still held in Gaza – and that a negotiated agreement is the only way to bring the majority of the hostages home.

An Israeli military investigation last year found that operations, “although gradual and cautious, had a circumstantial influence” on the Hamas militants who killed six hostages in a tunnel where they were being held in Rafah in southern Gaza.

But on Monday, Netanyahu projected an image of defiance, praising Israelis “who fight together and win together” in a post on X. He vowed to “continue until the enemy is defeated, all the hostages are released, and security is guaranteed for the residents of Israel.”

Israeli news media reported late Monday that Netanyahu would convene his security cabinet this week to discuss plans for Gaza. A person familiar with decision-making in the prime minister’s office, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the news media, said that Netanyahu had decided to “occupy the Gaza Strip, meaning that military operations will also take place in areas where hostages are being held.”

In pursuing moves against the attorney general, and leaning toward more military action in Gaza, Netanyahu “is acting against the will of the Israeli majority, who want a comprehensive deal today to bring the hostages home and end the war,” said Gayil Talshir, a senior lecturer on political science at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. “Today, the prime minister and his government see themselves as above the law.”