The attorney general
Photo: Amit Shabi
AG denies police investigating MKs and ministers
Avichai Mandelblit addressed allegations that the Israel Police had collected and concealed information on criminal acts by elected officials; he detailed the procedure that would require the state attorney and his signoff for investigations into politicians' alleged criminal activities.
Gil Limon, the Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit's senior advisor, sent a letter penned by Mandelblit on Monday in which he addressed the recent report on Israel's Channel 10 that claimed that the police's Investigations and Intelligence Department had collected material raising suspicions of elected officials' criminal activities.
"The Israel Police does not collect information on ministers or members of Knesset," the attorney general wrote. "As is customary, significant information that comes to the Israel Police that raises suspicion of alleged criminal activity by a minister or a member of parliament is transferred immediately to the state attorney and the attorney general. Further handling (of such cases) requires their preliminary approval.
"The document that was the subject of the (Channel 10) report was prepared by the Israel Police two years ago. The document was prepared for review purposes to make sure that no such significant information was held by intelligence services or Israel Police that had not come to the attention of the head of the Investigations and Intelligence Department in the Israel Police and been transferred by him to the state attorney and the attorney general.
Avichai Mandelblit (Photo: Amit Shabi)
"It goes without saying that part of the information in the document led to and served as the basis for criminal investigations, some of which are well-known. The allegation that the document was prepared for any purpose other than the professional-operation purpose described above is baseless. The attorney general backs the work of the Investigations and Intelligence Department and its head, who operate professionally and without compromise, day and night, to ensure the rule of law in the state."
Following the report, sources in the Israel Police on Monday sought to clarify if the document existed. Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan also attempted to clarify details on the document, but he did not manage to get answers from the police.
Channel 10 reported, "The document collected all the information that the police knew from every possible source regarding all 120 members of Knesset and the ministers of the previous Knesset. According to this document, the police have information on the alleged crimes of dozens of MKs, including cases of corruption."
According to the report, "The document includes the names of alleged witnesses, but this information did not turn into a serious investigation."
It has also been alleged that the police have not denied the existence of the document and claimed that its policy regarding revealing crimes committed by politicians has not changed.
