Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit urged Netanyahu and Gantz over the weekend to make key appointments, including a new state prosecutor and police chief.
By GIL HOFFMAN, TOBIAS SIEGALBenny Gantz(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
In a sign that elections will soon be initiated, the weekly cabinet meeting that had been set for Monday will only take place on Wednesday. It was postponed due to a fight between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz over the meeting’s agenda.Gantz wrote Netanyahu in a letter on Sunday that the appointment of a state attorney, a Justice Ministry director-general and key ambassadors must be presented at Monday’s cabinet meeting.Due to the conflict of interest of his criminal trial, Netanyahu is not permitted to deal with legal appointments, he wrote.Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit urged Netanyahu and Gantz over the weekend to make key appointments, including a new state attorney and Israel Police inspector-general.Acting Insp.-Gen. Moti Cohen replaced Roni Alsheich in December 2018 but was never elevated to permanent status. Public Security Minister Amir Ohana (Likud) has made it clear that he would not grant Cohen permanent status and wants to replace him.Since the current government was established in May, Cohen’s replacement has been delayed because of Netanyahu’s desire to influence the appointment of the next state attorney.Technically, Netanyahu has agreed that he will not personally be involved in choosing a new police chief and state attorney. But his Likud lieutenants can still keep the positions frozen based on the coalition agreement that requires consensus between Likud and Blue and White.Mandelblit’s argument, accepted by the High Court of Justice, was that the requirement to appoint a permanent insp.-gen. overrides any political deadlock or coalition agreement that is holding it up.Last Thursday, the High Court ordered the government to approve the appointment of Shimon Baron as Justice Ministry director-general after the position was not permanently filled for months.Baron was appointed in late August by Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn. However, due to the coalition agreement, no high-level appointments could be made for the first 100 days after its establishment. Since then, his appointment has since been stalled due to coalition disagreements.The Attorney-General’s Office asked for the court to demand that the appointment be made by the end of the month.Celia Jean contributed to this report.
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