MKs Submit Bill Allowing Criminal Probes Against AG, State-Attorney

Religious Zionist MKs Tzvi Sukkot and Simcha Rothman on Tuesday submitted an amendment to the Knesset’s secretariat that would allow criminal investigations against the Attorney General and the State Attorney.

The report comes on the same day that Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi published a list of ministers who signed a letter he wrote demanding that Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara be ousted from her position for “systematically opposing the government and its ministers.” The letter is signed by Likud members Karhi, May Golan, Amichai Chikli, David Amsalem, Chaim Katz, Miki Zohar and Idit Silman; UTJ members Meir Porush and Yitzchak Goldknopf; and Otzma Yehudit members Itamar Ben-Gvir, Amichai Eliyahu, Orit Strook, and Yitzchak Wasserlauf.

According to the amendment, in the event that the police learn of an offense committed by the Attorney General or the State Attorney or anyone on their behalf, they will refer the matter to the Justice Minister to appoint a prosecutor who will have all the powers of the Attorney General and the State Attorney regarding investigation and prosecution.

“The Attorney General and the State Attorney head the law enforcement and prosecution system in Israel,” Sukkot and Rothman explained. “Although there are several provisions regarding opening investigations and filing indictments against senior officials such as the Prime Minister, ministers, judges, and more, there is a deficiency concerning initiating such a process against the Attorney General and the State Attorney.”

“In a situation where there is suspicion of an offense by the Attorney General or the State Attorney, a significant conflict of interest arises in the involvement of the prosecution in the aforementioned allegations, from accompanying the investigation to the decision of whether there is a basis to file an indictment.”

“In light of this,” they concluded, “the proposed law seeks to correct the situation and allow the Justice Minister to appoint an external prosecutor for the prosecution in these cases, similar to the investigation of police officers conducted by the Internal Affairs Unit and not by the police investigation bodies.

“Under the proposed law, the appointed prosecutor will be granted powers equivalent to those of the Attorney General and the State Attorney.”