Ohana: Comptroller should probe entire law enforcement system tomorrow
Going beyond Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vague call on Thursday night to “investigate the investigators,” Ohana made a concrete proposal
By YONAH JEREMY BOBJustice Minister Amir Ohana speaks at the Israeli Bar Association on June 10, 2019(photo credit: YOSSI ZAMIR)
Acting Justice Minister Amir Ohana called for the State Comptroller’s Office to probe the entire law enforcement system in an interview with Channel 12 on Saturday night.Going beyond Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vague call on Thursday night to “investigate the investigators,” Ohana made a concrete proposal in his capacity as the country’s justice minister to investigate a variety of issues in the state prosecution and the police.Netanyahu and Ohana’s attacks on law enforcement come following Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit’s Thursday decision to indict the prime minister for bribery, fraud and breach of public trust.A spokesman for Mandelblit said he had not seen the interview, but that the comptroller has the authority to probe any office in the country. Despite this authority, the comptroller does not have authority to criminally investigate anyone and can only suggest to the attorney-general to probe someone for a crime.While the two prior comptrollers were at loggerheads with Netanyahu, the current comptroller, Matanyahu Englman, appointed by Netanyahu in July, has been accused of politicizing his office to take the prime minister’s side.It was unclear if he would jump on Ohana’s suggestion to probe law enforcement, especially since Englman has been cutting back on his own powers and manpower for investigations – preferring instead to work on less controversial issues. The comptroller’s office did not respond by press time.In parallel to Ohana’s attack on law enforcement, the Israel Bar Association tried to strike a middle ground, backing law enforcement’s credibility, but also deploring how leaks to the media have led to attempts to get public officials convicted in the public eyes before trials even start.In the interview with Channel 12, Ohana also said, “The system under me [as justice minister] is a problem. I have said it clearly. I am very worried... There is arbitrary enforcement... extortion and threats against state’s witnesses... instead of trying to get to the truth.”Ohana complained about leaks against the prime minister, about mistreatment of Nir Hefetz – a key state’s witness against Netanyahu – and about an email which State Attorney Shai Nitzan sent in early November to former prosecutors, including four judges, calling on them to coordinate a public relations response to attacks on the prosecution.Supreme Court President Esther Hayut instructed Nitzan not to send emails to judges, even if they were former prosecutors, and Nitzan quickly apologized, calling the listing of the four judges an oversight.
Some have accepted Nitzan’s explanation and apology, while Ohana called Nitzan’s email a form of “bribery,” though it was unclear whether he meant this in a legal or generic political sense.Ohana has come under intense attack by Mandelblit, Nitzan and Hayut for violating a gag order relating to Hefetz and for his attacks undermining law enforcement and the courts.Though it seemed that Ohana might stay quiet for a while after a firestorm surrounding his violation of the gag order, Saturday night marked a new escalation of attacks by Ohana on the law enforcement system which he technically heads.It is unclear whether Ohana will continue as justice minister if Netanyahu does not continue in office, and even Netanyahu might replace him with Likud minister Yariv Levin.Nitzan is due to step down from his post on December 15 at the end of his term.It is unclear how he will be replaced without a functioning Knesset.
