Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has formally urged Israel’s High Court of Justice to reject petitions seeking the removal of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, arguing that there is no legal basis for dismissing him despite the collapse of negotiations between Ben Gvir and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara over his conduct in office.

Netanyahu’s latest filing was submitted after efforts to reach an agreement between Ben Gvir and the attorney general broke down. The prime minister’s position has fueled speculation over whether he would refuse to comply with a High Court ruling should the justices order Ben Gvir’s dismissal without what Netanyahu views as a clear legal foundation.

In his response, Netanyahu wrote, “After the prime minister carefully considered the matter, including receiving a detailed response from the minister regarding the incidents referenced in the petitions, the attorney general’s response to the conditional order, and the subsequent update notices, there has been no change in the prime minister’s position that Minister Ben Gvir’s appointment as minister of national security was lawful and that there are no grounds whatsoever for any administrative or judicial decision requiring his dismissal.”

The prime minister also maintained that Ben Gvir accepts the principle of police independence. He argued that even though the two sides were unable to finalize guidelines governing the minister’s relationship with the police, that alone does not justify removing him from office.

Netanyahu further contended that the matter is not one for judicial intervention and criticized Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara’s handling of the case. He accused her of “inflating the events and citing various incidents that bear no connection to any grounds for removing a minister.”

Ben Gvir welcomed Netanyahu’s response and launched a fresh attack on the attorney general.

“I congratulate the prime minister for his clear response to the criminal attorney general. The deep state bureaucrats have absolutely no authority to remove ministers from office. After the elections, we will remove the deep state bureaucrats.”