Tomer Jacobson
On Monday, Israeli government unanimously approved Gali Baharav-Miara to be appointed as the new Attorney General, making her the first woman to hold this position.
Attorney Baharav-Miara was nominated by Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and in a discussion prior to the voting he emphasised that he and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett personally recommended her for the position.
Attorney Baharav-Miara is set to succeed Avichai Mandelblit, whose term officially ended last week. She is expected to remain in the position for the next six years.
From 2007 to 2015, the incoming Attorney General, served as the civil District Attorney for the city of Tel Aviv, followed by a stint as a consultant at the law firm Tadmor Levy & Co. Recently, she also participated in several public committees, including an advisory committee on administrative courts law, and a committee that advised on civil procedure.
Justice Minister Sa’ar said: “It is fitting to appoint a woman for the job for the first time in the state’s history. But I am not recommending appointing lawyer Baharav-Miara for this reason, but because she is the best and most fitting candidate and also has the most diverse and rich professional managerial experience”.
Commenting on Baharav-Miara’s tenure as District Attorney, Sa’ar stated that she had “represented Israel in 60% of all civil and administrative procedures conducted in the country”, a feat he referred to as “immense”.
According to Prime Minister Bennett, the appointment of the District Attorney is the “most important and sensitive” current appointment. Prime Minister Bennett underlined: “The primary role of the Attorney General is to help the government implement its policies within the framework of the law’s limitations. The government is here to rule, to function, and to do so in a way that will benefit the citizens of the country, and will take Israel forward”.
