The government on Sunday approved acting State Attorney Amit Aisman to fill the role permanently. Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar nominated him last week, about 18 months after the previous permanent state attorney retired.
Aisman was approved in November 2020 by a committee that is supposed to deal with such issues and by justice minister Avi Nissenkorn.
Until last Tuesday, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party had blocked the appointment from becoming permanent.
Only after a variety of legal fights was Aisman able to receive the role in an acting capacity. His temporary term was due to run out in July without him receiving a permanent appointment.
The narrative was that Netanyahu did not want Aisman, who was part of the prosecution establishment, and preferred someone from the outside who he could count on to potentially give him a lenient plea deal in his public corruption trial, should the case go south for him.
In addition to potentially handling such issues later with Netanyahu, Aisman has been and will also be involved in decisions relating to Shas Party head Arye Deri, United Torah Judaism MK Ya’acov Litzman and other major issues.
Sa’ar said he had warned Aisman of his plan to split the attorney-general’s job into two roles, a chief legal adviser and a chief prosecutor, once Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit’s term expires in February 2022.
It is unclear how this would impact Aisman and whether he would be grandfathered into the role of chief prosecutor or have to endure a new open-competition bidding process.
There has been no permanent state attorney since December 2019 when Shai Nitzan stepped down. Dan Eldad was acting state attorney between March and May 2020, and Mandelblit filled the role until Aisman took the position.
The selection committee was chaired by Mandelblit and included Civil Service Commission head Daniel Hershkowitz, acting Justice Ministry Director-General Sigal Yakobi, Israel Bar Association attorney Rachel Torah and Prof. Oren Gazal-Ayal, representing the academic community.
Last November, they praised Aisman’s service as Haifa district attorney and in multiple roles as acting deputy state attorney, as well as for his decades of experience. They emphasized his leadership capacity to make necessary changes within the prosecutorial apparatus, including increasing public confidence.
The committee referenced a disciplinary hearing that Aisman was called to in 2018, relating to sexist comments he had made in 2014 and 2008. The comments led to an inquiry about whether he had committed sexual harassment.
However, the committee said he took responsibility for the past statements, which it referred to as being in the distant past, and that he said he had learned his lesson.
The decision was a blow to Deputy State Attorney Shlomo Lemberger, who many thought might be Mandelblit’s first choice because they served so closely together in recent years.
One name that was not on the final list was Deputy State Attorney Liat Ben Ari, who never submitted her candidacy despite expectations that she would be among the top picks.
Ben Ari is the lead lawyer against Netanyahu and was the lead lawyer in the Holyland corruption trial against former prime minister Ehud Olmert.
Despite her record of top cases, she said she could not be both state attorney and continue to lead the Netanyahu trial. The Likud Party was expected to oppose her more than any other candidate.