Last update - 00:00 28/05/2007
AG, Justice Minister trade barbs over selection of new State Prosecutor
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Monday publicly criticized one another in light of Friedmann's proposal to change the method with which a new state prosecutor is selected, and Mazuz's strong objection to the proposal.
Friedmann's proposal would give more power to the Justice Minister in the selection process, taking the power away from the judicial branch, namely the Supreme Court.
In a conversation with legal correspondents at an Israel Bar Association (ISBA) conference in Eilat on monday Friedmann said "the fact that the attorney general, a state employee, would publicly criticize a cabinet minister, who is his superior, is completely unacceptable. It's doubly unacceptable when the topic at hand is a matter that will be brought before the cabinet, where Mr. Mazuz can voice his objections."
Friedmann added that "as is well known, the attorney general put the last justice minister on trial. He's only criticized me so far, so I consider myself lucky."
In regard to Mazuz's criticism of his proposal to increase the government's powers Friedmann said "as far as Mazuz can see, the political system is apparently his rubber stamp. Perhaps what stands behind his criticism is his desire to say 'I will decide, I will navigate, and then there are some rubber stamps like the justice minister and the prime minister.'"
In response, Mazuz said that he would continue to fight Friedmann's initiative. He said "the attempt to magnify the government's involvement is troubling, especially during this sensitive time in which the affairs of ministers and other political officials are placed on the desk of the state prosecutor, with everything that this implies."
Earlier Monday, the attorney general said "the process of selecting a state prosecutor must be completely free of any involvement of the political branch. For an attorney general who also advises the cabinet, trust-based relations with the members of the cabinet are of some importance. However, the position of state prosecutor is a purely legal profession and does not require any dialogue with the political echelon or the cabinet ministers. It is the job of a prosecutor, and a prosecutor must be completely separate from the political branch."
Earlier Monday, ISBA Chairman Shlomo Cohen lashed out at Friedmann, accusing him of carrying out a "pogrom" against the Supreme Court.
Cohen charged Friedmann with "proposing that we cancel some of the greatest achievements in Israeli law," a reference to his planned reforms of the court system.
"There is a cultural war taking place over Israel's enlightened legal system," Cohen said in an address at the ISBA conference in Eilat.
"To our disgrace, the voices calling for changes to this system are increasing. The justice minister's proposals are extremely disturbing because it is so easy to destroy what was so hard to build."
According to Cohen, "Professor Friedman is suggesting that we strike a fatal blow to the Supreme Court's power to cancel wrongful laws. If this is to occur, Israel will return to a primitive state in which the government is all powerful and there are no checks or balances."
"He is also suggesting that we change the make-up of the panel that elects judges in order to bolster the power of political elements. Political appointments for judicial positions are an embarrassment. The justice minister in Israel needs to protect the legal system, not threaten it," Cohen added.
"A government in dire trouble is attacking the legal system. We saw this in the United States during the Nixon administration, we see it today while George Bush is U.S. president and we saw it during Ariel Sharon's reign."
Cohen also slammed the phenomenon of criticizing the judicial system in Israel, saying that it has diminished public faith in the law.
"In the past few years we have heard empty cliches that undermine the legal system," he said. "The legal system has been blamed for framing people and being too active. It is claimed that most of the public officials were acquitted. These are baseless accusations.
"It is no wonder that the public trust in the legal system has fallen, and that a third of the public think that judges have taken bribes. The knights of this pogrom are already basking in the glow of a ridiculous statistics that they themselves invented."
Friedmann is due to speak at the conference Tuesday.