Weinstein says PM can give the Yisrael Beytenu leader any post at any time if he is found innocent in the trial against him.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBLiberman trial starts 370(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein on Wednesday night said that there is no bar to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu "holding" the position of foreign minister for Avigdor Liberman until the trial against him is resolved.Weinstein announced his position on the issue in response to a request from Labor MK Merav Michaeli and to OMETZ head Aryeh Avneri to rule on the issue and demand a commitment from Netanyahu not to follow through with the alleged backroom agreement.The attorney-general said that a prime minister can hold additional portfolios at his will and that even if there was no "arrangement," the prime minister could give Liberman any post at any time presuming he is found innocent in the trial against him.Weinstein said that all of the issues involved were political and not legal, and gave him no reason to get involved.Further, he rejected any concern that Liberman "hovering" over the future of the foreign ministry would pressure foreign ministry workers into changing their testimony against Liberman out of concern that he might retaliate in the future for negative testimony.He said that the same could be true in any case, that there is nothing special in this case and that the fact that the workers had already testified to police was likely to ensure they would not change their testimony.
