The Israeli Supreme Court issues a precautionary order preventing the dismissal of the government's legal advisor.

The Israeli Supreme Court issued a precautionary order preventing the dismissal of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara from her position.

Late Sunday evening, Supreme Court Vice President Noam Solberg issued a precautionary order freezing Baharav-Miara's dismissal, adding that at this stage, the government will not be able to announce a replacement for the attorney general or a deputy.

Solberg wrote in the decision, "The government's decision to dismiss the legal advisor will not enter into force, with all that this decision entails, until a further decision is issued."

He added, "In general, during this period, there will be no change in the Attorney General's powers, the working procedures between her and the government, or the standard setting for the Attorney General's opinions and the prosecution's decisions."

The Israeli Supreme Court ruling addressed Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi's letter demanding that his office staff ignore legal advice, given that Baharav-Miara had been dismissed from her position. Solberg stated, "As is well known, everyone is obligated to respect the court's decisions and rulings. The communications minister's conduct in our case is serious, and even more so, given that the minister ordered his office staff to act in this manner."

He added, "Contrary to what is written there (in the letter sent by Karai), the attorney general is not the 'former attorney general.'"

He stressed that "the opinion of the Judicial Advisory remains valid, and the demand that the office's employees change their usual behavior regarding the aforementioned opinions is baseless."

The Supreme Court's decision rejected the contempt of court request. According to the ruling, "applications filed under the Contempt of Court Law face several obstacles, related, among other things, to the question—which has not yet been decided in this Court's decision—of whether proceedings can be brought under Article 6 of the Contempt of Court Law against state authorities."

The Israeli Supreme Court announced last Thursday that it had set September 3 as the date for a hearing to consider the petitions submitted against the government's decision to dismiss the attorney general.

The Supreme Court announced an expanded panel of nine justices, headed by Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit, to consider Baharav-Miara's dismissal.

Earlier, judicial sources indicated that the Supreme Court would likely accept the petitions and overturn the dismissal decision, or that the government would retract its decision due to pressure from the court.