Ohana to A-G: New state attorney appointment is done deal
The High Court blocked the appointment on Wednesday, just minutes before she was due to be sworn in.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFJustice Minister Amir Ohana, 2019.(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Acting Justice Minister Amir Ohana sent a letter to Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit Friday reaffirming that the appointment of Orly Ben-Ari as the new state attorney to replace Shai Nitzan was a done deal, in spite of the High Court of Justice's decision to freeze the appointment.The High Court blocked the appointment on Wednesday, just minutes before she was due to be sworn in.The quick decision was caused when, just hours before, The Movement for the Quality of Government in Israel filed a petition with the High Court to block Ohana from appointing a candidate whom Mandelblit had opposed. In the letter, Ohana stated that he had already signed off Ben Ari's appointment a day earlier and, therefore, the petition filed by the Movement for Quality Government, which led to the issuance of the order, was based on an "incorrect factual platform."Mandelblit responded that although it was known to the court that the nominee in question had already been signed off, both the balance of convenience and the chances of the petition tilted the balance towards admitting the High Court provisional order to freeze the appointment.
