Mazuz screwed up
Attorney general mishandled Katsav affair, may be wrong man for the job
Attorney General Menacham Mazuz's third year in office turned out to be a hubris, arrogant year. This is the only way the inflated level of expectations he created in the Katsav case can be explained (despite warnings from his legal advisors) when compared to the actual outcome – a minor indictment.This is the only way to explain why he refused to admit the error of his decision.
Mazuz was always quick to remind us that he is not one to make a decision based on public mood swings or on newspaper headlines. However, in the Katsav affair, as in the Greek Island affair, he is obligated to explain the sharp turn in his decision making. On Saturday night's "Meet the Press' TV program, Mazuz was given a golden opportunity to do so. He could have explained how his conclusion – which he maintains still amounts to a severe indictment – is compatible with what we the laymen are reading in black and white letters. And the way its reads is petty.
Moreover, if the case at hand is so severe, as Mazuz is saying, why didn't the plea bargain include a prison sentence or at least leave penalization to the court as in the Omri Sharon case? According to Mazuz, Katsav is a serial sex offender and a skilled liar. So why did Ofer Glazer serve an eight month prison term, and why did Haim Ramon, the one-time kisser, perform community service at a rehabilitative horse farm?
Fateful decisions coming up
Mazuz is considered to be a brilliant lawyer of stature, yet his expertise was always in administrative law, public law and High Court rulings. He has never appeared in court as a criminal prosecutor, except perhaps during his youth. And as if this were not enough, he selected a State Prosecutor, Eran Shendar, who may be a great guy but isn't considered an expert in criminal law either.
Mazuz is approaching the second half of his career in a battered state. His handling of the Katsav case, albeit being legally viable, has severely damaged his credibility. This time he should choose an expert in criminal law with a reputation that is not only reflected in his partiality to the boss. Mazuz is strong enough to have another strong person by his side.
In the coming months the attorney general will have to make fateful decisions in the Ehud Olmert and Avraham Hirchson affairs, the Tax Authority scandal and others. The concern is two-fold: On the one hand he is likely not to internalize the public and legal lessons involved in the Katsav affair, and to repeat the same pattern of taking overly severe action against Olmert in the intermediate stages that would paralyze the cabinet.
On the other hand, there is major concern that the harsh criticism leveled at him in the Katsav affair will in fact result in weakness and this is by no means what is expected of a cabinet's attorney general.
