Mandelblit leading candidate for attorney general post
Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mandelblit is the only candidate to receive required support of four of five members of committee; he is Netanyahu and Shaked's preferred candidate to replace Yehuda Weinstein.
Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mandelblit is the only candidate to receive the required support of four of the five members in the committee to appoint a new attorney general, which presented its recommendation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked on Sunday.
"After having interviewed the candidates for the role and after considering the issue in 14 meetings, including meetings to discuss reservations submitted to the committee, we presented to the prime minister and justice minister the name of the only candidate who won the support of four members, as is required by a government decision, with that candidate being Dr. Maj.-Gen. (res.) Avichai Mandelblit," the committee said in a statement.
The committee's members included former Supreme Court president Asher Grunis, attorney Moshe Nissim, representing the government, attorney Yehiel Katz, representing the Bar Association, Prof. Gabriela Shalev and MK Anat Berko of the Likud party.
The only judge to not give his support to Mandelblit was Grunis, who served as the chairman of the committee. Grunis opposed Mandelblit's appointment because not enough time had passed since Mandelblit's release from the IDF, where he served as the Chief Military Advocate General.
While law scholars Prof. Uriel Reichman and Prof. Amnon Rubinstein submitted their reservations to Mandelblit's candidacy to the committee, Mandelblit presented to the committee an opinion from other legal experts who believe there is no need for a "cooling off period" following his IDF service, including Prof. Ariel Bendor, Prof. Amichai Cohen, Prof. Aviad Hacohen, Prof. Gideon Sapir and Prof. Avi Sagi.
Mandelblit, the current cabinet secretary, is considered Netanyahu and Shaked's preferred candidate. Among the candidates who did not get the required support were retired judge Hila Gerstel, and Weinstein's deputies Raz Nazeri and Avi Licht. Eyal Yinon, the Knesset's legal adviser, was also a leading candidate.
Involvement in Harpaz Affair
Last May, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein shelved an investigation launched against Mandelblit in the Harpaz Affair.
In August 2010, Channel 2 reported on the existence of a document then dubbed the "Galant Document" and later referred to as the "Harpaz Document." The document includes instructions on how to boost the image of one of the candidates for IDF chief of staff, Yoav Galant, while smearing others. The document, which caused public outcry, later turned out to be a fake document written by Boaz Harpaz, a senior IDF officer.
Police investigators tried to get their hands on the document on the day of Channel 2's report, but when they could not, they turned to the courts to issue an order instructing Channel 2 to hand it over.
The next day, then-IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi, who had the document police were seeking for three months, met with then-Chief Military Advocate General, Mandelblit, and asked him what to do about the document. Mandelblit, who was caught by surprise, asked Ashkenazi to let him "sleep on it."
Several hours later, Mandelblit spoke to Raz Nazeri, the attorney general's deputy, in a phone call that lasted for a minute, but failed to tell him he knew the IDF chief had the document the police was after. Only the next day, when he met with Ashkenazi again, did Mandelblit instruct him to hand over the document to the attorney general.
The police's Anti Fraud Unit recommended to the attorney general to prosecute Mandelblit, but the Weinstein decided to shelve the case claiming that "Mandelblit did the right thing in the shortest amount of time."
