State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss said Friday that a letter from Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein published a day earlier, presented a distorted version of events.
Channel Two news reported Thursday that Weinstein had accused Lindenstrauss of misleading the public with his recent statements about the "Harpaz document controversy," in an unprecedented head on clash between two of the leading law enforcement officials in the country.
The Harpaz Affair is named for Col. (res.) Boaz Harpaz, a former
Military Intelligence officer who allegedly forged a document detailing a
strategy of how to get former OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yoav
Galant appointed chief of staff in place of Ashkenazi.
Lindenstrauss has recently made public statements suggesting that Weinstein consider criminal charges in the affair despite an initial decision not to. In a letter to Lindenstrauss, Weinstein lashed out, stating that no allegations that could be considered criminal had been raised against any of the main players in the controversy.
No criminal allegations were raised in the contacts between his and
Lindenstrauss' office, "not explicitly, not as a hint, not in writing
and not verbally," said Weinstein's letter, according to the report.
Lindenstrauss condemned Weinstein's hints he had concealed the truth, and slammed the report as self-serving and baseless. He added that the one-sided and tendentious publication of Weinstein's letter presented an entirely distorted version because it ignored the State Comptroller's initial letter to the Attorney General's Office.
Therefore, Lindenstrauss decided to publish the letter which was previously sent to the Attorney General, which stated that there is no escaping a criminal investigation into allegations against members of his staff. In a statement released by the State Comptroller's Office Friday, Lindenstrauss said that only a thorough criminal investigation could lead to the discovery of the truth about the Harpaz affair.
Weinstein's comments were an across-the-board contradiction of Lindenstrauss' public comments as he noted that Lindenstrauss had never raised criminal charges at any level.
Weinstein's statement applied both to any private conversations he had with Lindenstrauss as well as any discussions between Lindenstrauss' staff and Weinstein's staff.
Finally, Weinstein noted that the state comptroller's official transfer of documents to his office was not made under the legal section by which recommendations for criminal charges are normally made, signifying that even Lindenstrauss had not pursued the matter as a criminal case in the standard fashion.
The tone and public nature of the letter were extremely unusual as any internal disagreement between law enforcement officials is usually kept under wraps, especially at the top.
Yaakov Katz contributed to this report.