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Attorney general, Ramon-style By Haaretz Editorial Tags: Haim Ramon, Yoel Lavi  Vice Premier Haim Ramon taught the participants of a Bar-Ilan University economic forum a lesson in government theory: Having an attorney general is "a nice thing," he said, but it is possible to "accept or not accept" his opinion. Such a narrow interpretation of the attorney general's function, as if we were talking about strictly a government consigliere, is fitting of someone who seeks to hang his failures on the attorney general's overcompensation. This has been the essence of the Olmert government since its inception. While its ministers have been investigated and tried one after the other, they carp about law enforcement officials in order to turn from the accused to the accusers. Ramon was referring to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz's decision to veto the appointment of Ramle's mayor as head of the Israel Lands Administration last month. Ramon is convinced that disqualifying a candidate from a government post due to that person's racist statements constitutes judicial coercion. Indeed, when residents of his mixed Arab-Jewish town requested that streets be named after Arabs, too, Yoel Lavi recommended that they find another city to live in. Lavi repeated his bigoted statements more than once, and not in the heat of an impassioned argument, but rather calmly and calculatingly. Apparently, though, at least for Ramon, this is hardly enough of a reason to disqualify him. From Ramon's point of view, a government decision to appoint a candidate is enough in and of itself. Let us assume that Ramon knows very well that the attorney general's job is not just dispensing legal advice to the government. For quite some time, a legitimate public debate has been raging over what the attorney general's role should be. Some would like to divide his duties between two people - one to oversee the court systems, the other to provide legal advice to the government. In any event, even if the job were split into two, neither would be a government attorney, as Ramon would like. A public official is not supposed to act as a defense lawyer for a government that makes rash decisions and then expects them to be justified before the High Court of Justice. Advertisement The attorney general's customary role was established during the 1960s by a committee of jurists headed by Justice Shimon Agranat. This panel determined that the attorney general is "the authorized expositor of the law as it applies to the executive branch," and his opinion is meant to reflect the desired, prevailing legal opinion on matters such as civil service appointments. If the attorney general believes the authorities are not acting in accordance with the law, he does not have to represent them before the High Court, which in any event can nullify his opinion. The attorney general's right to refuse to explain unreasonable government decisions is one of the keystones of the rule of law in this country. Rather than attacking the attorney general for disqualifying Yoel Lavi, Haim Ramon would be better off explaining why he insists on appointing this specific candidate to one of the state's most sensitive positions for Jewish-Arab relations. Rather than disqualifying Lavi himself, Ramon is castigating the attorney general for his recommendation, which in this case was fully warranted. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Snoop Dogg in Israel American rapper Snoop Dogg slated to perform in Ramat Gan. Late date Scientists revive 2,000-year-old date seed found at Masada.

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