Mazuz: Fight corruption
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Mazuz: Don't let Israel become third world country
Attorney general speaks before fellow legalists for last time in Eilat conference, praises decision to put off division of AG's role, urges his successors to fight for 'preservation of Israel's character as law-abiding state'
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz is leaving is post, with quite a few concerns about the day to follow. Addressing fellow legalists for the last time in a speech in Eilat on Tuesday, the attorney general presented a rather grim forecast regarding the Israeli legal system.
During his speech, held at a legal conference, Mazuz warned that crime and corruption are on the rise, and called for a fight against the ongoing attack against the legal system: "We are in the midst of an important battle for the preservation of Israel's character as a law-abiding state – a struggle of crucial importance for the preservation of Israel's image as a society and as a state that believes in upholding the law and integrity, and not a 'third world country' – with everything this term implies."
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Mazuz spoke extensively of the initiative to divide the role of attorney general, which has been put off in the meantime by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "In recent months we have been conducting another, very significant battle," he said.
"An initiative in which we saw – both in its content and in the way it was promoted – real danger and a serious blow to the law enforcement system – It is not clear how long this will last, and there is no room for complacency," he added.
The AG also warned of the wave of disrespect towards the law on the part of the political-public leadership – a trend which he said was intensifying in recent years.
"The law enforcement system and all its extensions – courthouses, the attorney general, the prosecution and the police – have experienced a reality of personal and systematic attacks from various bodies – including suspects and defendants, their delegates, their publicists and their supporters, in different and diverse ways.
"Attacks that were meant to harm and weaken the entire enforcement system, and all its components, and to harm the public legitimacy of its activity."
In sum, the attorney general addressed the importance of public servants, saying, "On another occasion, I spoke of the important role filled by public servants, who are often contemptuously referred to as 'clerks' – as the foundation of a healthy society."
He added that "professional, dedicated and high quality public service is the necessary infrastructure for a progressive nation. Advanced countries nurture public service, and don't fight it. In the State of Israel, on the other hand, not only is there no nurturing of public service, but a new sport has developed of who can defame public service in general, and legislators in particular, more."
