Mazuz. 'Don't defend those who transgressed'
Photo: Flash 90
Lieberman. Suspect
Photo: Alex Kolomoisky
Mazuz: In a proper country Lieberman wouldn’t be FM
Attorney general slams public system in Israel for enabling appointment of people suspected of criminal offenses, convicted felons as ministers
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said Monday that he believes Yisrael Beiteinu
Chairman Avigdor Lieberman
should not have been appointed foreign minister.
Mazuz made the remarks in response to a question directed at him by the panel's moderator, journalist Ilana Dayan, who wondered whether Lieberman should have been appointed foreign minister.
"A proper country should not have reached such a situation," he told a Bar Association's conference in Eilat during a panel on integrity and honesty in public life. He stressed, however, that "had I believed that the legal system should prevent such a situation, I would have said it as I did in other situations."
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The attorney general explained that "the governmental system in Israel is not doing its job properly. The public arena in Israel is stammering and speaking in two different languages. There are those who defend these phenomena and those who transgressed.
"People suspected of criminal offenses are appointed as ministers, and a convicted felon resumes his ministerial role. These are failures of the public system. There are questions presented to the legal system, which is unable to provide a proper answer to these phenomena."
Mazuz also addressed the affair of former Minister Haim Ramon, who was convicted of an indecent assault. According to the attorney general, had Ramon said that the entire affair was a misunderstanding and apologized, the legal system should not have dealt with it.
"However, when the minister presents the matter as a question of who lied – he or the officer – I don’t think such a situation can be left hanging in the air."
As for the Olmert affair, Mazuz insisted that the legal system did not demand the former prime minister's resignation, and that despite the fact that the Bank Leumi case was closed, "launching the investigation was completely justified."
