Netanyahu to choose new attoreny general from shortlist of four

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided on Friday that the government will choose the next Attorney General from the four candidates suggested by a public search committee.

Netanyahu is set to announce during Sunday's cabinet meeting that a new committee for the selection of an attorney general will not be appointed.

The four candidates include attorney Zvi Agmon, Prof. Daphna Barak-Erez, attorney Yehuda Weinstein and Prof. Yedidya Stern.

The committee disbanded on Thursday after it failed to reach an agreement on any one of the candidates. Each of the four received the support of three members of the search committee.

Deliberations on which of the four is take the position will be held in the next few weeks.

Netanyahu announced on Monday that the role of the next Attorney General would not be split, as Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman had proposed several weeks ago.

The proposal raised strong objections by current Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, and several ministers, who argued that such a split would significantly weaken the official's position in the government and enable ministers to "do what ever they want."

Netanyahu told the selection committee that the final decision regarding the future of the attorney general role will be made with in the next few months, after Mazuz is replaced. The premier stressed that the decision was complex and delicate, and that it would take a while before any changes were implemented.