Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar has announced that he will be appointing State Attorney Amit Aisman as acting attorney-general for one month starting on February 1 to replace Avichai Mandelblit.
Sa’ar said he was making the appointment after consulting with the Attorney-General Selection Committee and the representative for Civil Service Appointments because of the likelihood that the committee will not have agreed on a permanent replacement for Mandelblit by the expiration of his term on February 1.
Aisman is not on the list of candidates for the position; the one-month extension is apparently only to give the committee a limited extension.
The committee announced its nine finalists for the post on Wednesday.
New names that the committee added on Wednesday include District Court Judge Michal Agmon-Gonen, lawyer Itai Ofir, Prof. Ariel Bendor, Dr. Aviad Bakshi, former Knesset chief legal adviser Eyal Yinon and Hebrew University Rector Barak Medina.
On December 13, Sa’ar recommended Deputy Attorney-General Raz Nizri, former top ministry official Gali Baharav-Miara and Deputy Attorney-General for international affairs Roy Schondorf as candidates, which could put them at the top of the list.
Former conservative chief justice Asher Grunis chairs the committee, which also includes conservative New Hope MK Zvi Hauser and moderate conservative and former justice minister Dan Meridor.
The other two members on the panel are Israel Bar Association representative Tami Olman and academic representative Ron Shapira. Olman is not considered particularly conservative and battled to defend the judiciary from attacks by former justice minister Amir Ohana.
Sa’ar is also seeking to split the powers of the attorney-general into two separate positions.