Police probe ties of anti-Mandelblit graffiti, father's grave vandalism
Graffiti in the northern Israeli city of Or Akiva read “Mandelblit is a collaborator.”
By YONAH JEREMY BOBAttorney-General Avichai Mandelblit (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Police are checking if there is a connection between threatening graffiti messages against Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit and an attack on his father’s tomb.“Police are examining the recent incident that took place over the weekend when graffiti was written near the coastal highway in connection to the attorney-general. Police are looking to see if there is any connection to previous incidents.No suspects have been arrested yet,” Israel Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.Graffiti in the northern Israeli city of Or Akiva read “Mandelblit is a collaborator.”Mandelblit’s father’s grave was vandalized in late December by unknown people and for unknown reasons.Following the threats, his personal security detail has been boosted.Mandelblit’s spokesman had no comment on the threats.In 2010, “traitor” was spray-painted on Mandelblit’s house during his term as the army’s chief lawyer.There was concern then that he could be targeted by far-right activists enraged over the convictions of two IDF soldiers for illegal conduct during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in January 2009.Yesh Atid MK Karin Elharar tweeted about the vandalism, blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for the incident.
“Don’t say we didn’t know who did this,” Elharar wrote. “This is a campaign of incitement and delegitimization carried out by the ruling party.”The graffiti follows news that Mandelblit will announce his intent regarding Netanyahu’s case before the upcoming April 9 election.According to Hadashot News late Tuesday, Mandelblit last week told a forum of top ex-Supreme Court justices and ex-attorney-generals that “it was an obligation to decide” before the election so that the voters would have all of the information possible when they go to voting booths.Netanyahu’s lawyers slammed the possibility of a pre-election decision as unjust. They also responded to the report, saying that if Mandelblit issues a decision prior to the election, “it would cause injustice to the will of voters and gravely harm the democratic process.”Yvette J. Deane and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
