Ministerial Committee on Legislation gives outgoing Lindenstrauss 3 months to finish report despite term ending, pending Knesset approval.
By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN311_Micha Lindenstrauss(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss will likely be able to complete his investigation of the Harpaz Affair following a decision Sunday by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation.Lindenstrauss is due to complete his term on Sunday, but he had not finished his report on the Harpaz scandal, which involves alleged forgery by a confidant of former IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi.The committee decided to give him three months to finish the report because he had already submitted a rough draft. Lindenstrauss will apparently not be able to finalize his report on the so-called “Bibitours” scandal about Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s trips abroad because no rough draft was submitted.The bill must now be passed in the Knesset, which is not expected to be a problem now that it has the support of the coalition’s 94 MKs.The bill’s sponsor, State Control Committee chairman Uri Ariel (National Union), promised to expedite the bill’s passage.Ariel called the legislation important and said there was no reason why Lindenstrauss would not be able to complete all his reports just like judges are permitted to complete their rulings after they retire.Likud and Habayit Hayehudi ministers voted in favor, Shas abstained, and there were no votes from the two ministers Lindenstrauss targeted in last week’s Carmel fire report, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch.
