Acting State Attorney asks comptroller to probe AG
Mandelblit has called on Eldad to step down on Friday
By YONAH JEREMY BOBATTORNEY-GENERAL Avichai Mandelblit has been one of the main players, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, in the current political stalemate.(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Acting State Attorney Dan Eldad on Sunday said that he has referred suspicions related to Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit to State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman for review.Eldad's actions come after Mandelblit called for Eldad to step down by May 1 due improper conduct and an improper process leading to his appointment as well as around 20 top prosecution division heads saying they support Mandelblit.It is unclear what the purpose of Eldad's move is since the comptroller does not have the authority to conduct criminal probes, and at most can perform an initial review and then refer any criminal issues to the attorney-general himself.Sources familiar with the powers of the comptroller said that Englman could review the efficiency of the attorney-general's office, but not any criminal issues.The referral to Englman is also awkward, because the comptroller, who was appointed in July 2019, is regarded as being overly close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and influencing certain processes to his benefit.Mandelblit's Thursday call for Eldad to step down would violate the coalition deal signed between Likud and Blue and White.In response, Eldad implied that Mandelblit wanted to get rid of him because he was probing the attorney-general. He did not elaborate on the probe other than to say it was based on information from an unnamed journalist.Channel 13's Akiva Novick has since come forward and said he asked Eldad to probe what led to the closing of the Harpaz Affair case against Mandelblit.Mandelblit was a suspect in that case which mostly centered on a rivalry between then-defense minister Ehud Barak and then IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi.Ultimately, then-attorney-general Yehuda Weinstein closed the case against Mandelblit, who got an order from the High Court of Justice to verify that the case was closed on the basis of the case being baseless (as opposed to a lack of evidence which can still leave a stigma on a suspect).
The High Court also approved Mandelblit to become attorney-general despite a petition against him. The 20 prosecution division heads on Friday said that they did not know the basis of Eldad's allegations and that even if there was some preliminary probe, he had violated his duties by revealing publicly before it reached any significant point.The bizarre spectacle left the Justice Ministry Spokesman’s Office sending out contradictory statements from the two top officials attacking each other. Spokesman Noam Sharbit said his staff represents the office and not a specific individual and would send out all statements to the media.Eldad’s temporary appointment was due to expire on May 1. Mandelblit implied he could cover Eldad’s duties until the new government nominated a replacement, even if that took six months.Mandelblit’s announcement came in a letter to Public Civil Commission representative Daniel Hershkovitz, who had asked his legal view about whether Eldad could remain in office for six months as stipulated by the coalition deal, which freezes all temporary appointments.Mandelblit accused Eldad of hiding information from him and of failing to gain the respect of the state prosecutors nominally under him.In response, Eldad said Mandelblit had improperly undermined him from day one.Mandelblit was not consulted on the coalition deal. It is unclear whether Blue and White gave this specific position any thought or whether it was simply wrapped into the general idea of freezing all nonpolitical top roles for six months due to the coronavirus crisis.Keeping Eldad on had been unexpected since he fast-tracked a decision to criminally investigate Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s former business partners less than 10 days before the March 2 election, which some say may have shifted some crucial votes to the Likud down the stretch.The truth is that many of the temporary appointments, including acting Police Insp.-Gen. Moti Cohen, have been serving for close to 18 months and are not viewed as political appointments anymore.In contrast, Eldad was pushed through by outgoing justice minister Amir Ohana on February 5 after months of fighting with Mandelblit.Mandelblit referenced the six weeks in which the state prosecution operated directly under him without a state attorney as proof that Eldad was not needed over the next six months.When Mandelblit formally withdrew his opposition to Eldad, it was not as much because he had come around to accepting Eldad as much as exhaustion from the battle. Around the time Mandelblit gave up his nearly two-month battle with Ohana over who would be acting state attorney – essentially Mandelblit’s No. 2 until a new government was formed – the attorney-general had at least six other public disputes with the ruling coalition.
