The Chairman of the National Security Committee, MK Zvika Fogel of Otzma Yehudit, submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice this morning (Thursday), demanding that Attorney Gali Baharav-Miara and the State Attorney, Attorney Amit Isman, appear in person for the committee's deliberations - as required by the provisions of the 'Basic Law of the Government and the Knesset Regulations.'.
The petition, filed by the law firm of Ben-Ari Marnes Teklet & Co., claims that since the beginning of the current Knesset term, the Legal Advisor to the Government has not appeared for a single hearing in the committee, despite repeated summonses. In the past three weeks alone, three consecutive hearings on key security issues have been refused: the legal handling of organized crime, the examination of Channel 14 documents, and the policy of legal representation for police officers.
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The petition claims that instead of appearing, the advisor chose to demand the cancellation of the hearings using various excuses or claiming that in her opinion the hearing was irrelevant or motivated by extraneous considerations. In other cases, she was content to send junior representatives.
It was further claimed that due to the Ombudsman's insistence on not attending the hearings, the committee was forced to cancel its meetings each time, directly harming its ability to perform its role of parliamentary oversight.
The petition requests that the court also issue an interim order requiring the respondents to appear for the scheduled hearings as early as next week.
Committee Chair MK Zvika Fogel: "Instead of obeying the law, the Legal Advisor to the Government is making a judgment for herself, handing out grades for the legitimacy of Knesset debates and whining about the sovereign. It's time for the High Court of Justice to call her to order and make it clear that the law applies to everyone, including those who are convinced that they are above the law. I suggest that the advisor appear before the committee and not wait for orders, because with all due respect to her excessive self-confidence, the last thing she needs right now is another embarrassing loss, precisely on her home turf."”
Attorneys Eran Ben-Ari and Assaf Tekhelet, who filed the petition, stated: "The court must make it clear to the Attorney General and the State Attorney that they must account for their actions and omissions to the Israeli public by appearing before Knesset committees. The Knesset's duty to oversee the government's work cannot be fulfilled in a situation where senior civil servants ignore summonses to appear before its committees. In this context, it was expected that senior officials in the government's law enforcement system would set an example and role model for respecting the Knesset, which is the sovereign.
""We are convinced that the court will clarify these basic understandings to the system's senior officials, and will issue the requested orders in a manner that will enable the proper and vital operation of the National Security Committee for the benefit of the citizens of the State of Israel.""
