Last update - 00:00 07/01/2007
High Court: Mazuz should not have called on Metzger to quit
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
High Court of Justice judges on Sunday criticized Attorney General Menachem Mazuz for demanding that Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger resign from his post.
In the course of a hearing on the petition filed by Metzger against Mazuz, chief justice Dorit Beinisch said, "it appears that the Attorney General has placed the cart before the horses." Beinisch was referring to the fact that Mazuz's decision limited the authority of the justice minister in the matter of removing Metzger from his post.
The judges recommended that Mazaz and Metzger agree on an alternate phrasing to replace the article calling for Metzger's resignation in the Mazuz's public report on Metzger.
Judge Ayala Procaccia asked prosecution representatives whether the attorney general has also recommended that other state employees resign when disciplinary action was recommended, but no indictment was filed.
Mazuz's aide, Attorney Raz Nazari, explained to the judges that "situations exist in which the attorney general is allowed to express his opinion on the public level and say that it would be unwarranted for a certain person to remain in his or her position."
Metzger was being probed for allegedly staying with his family at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem for a minimal fee during Pesach 2004.
During an investigation into the affair, police discovered that the Metzgers also allegedly received huge discounts at the David Citadel during 2004's Sukkot and Shavuot holidays, and enjoyed similarly discounted stays at other hotels.
In April, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz decided to close a criminal investigation into Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger but will ask him to resign from his position.
Mazuz will not seek an indictment against Metzger for fraud and breach of trust related to a stay in a Jerusalem hotel, it was announced on Monday.
Nevertheless, due to findings that emerged during the criminal probe into the affair, Mazuz called on Metzger - who lied to investigators - to resign from his position as chief rabbi.
"Given his flawed conduct, it is only right for Rabbi Metzger to take personal responsibility and decide - on his own accord - to step from his position as rabbinical judge and chief rabbi," Mazuz said. "The continuation of his tenure is liable to seriously hamper the public standing of the chief rabbinate and the main rabbinical court."