A-G vetoes Ohana commission to probe police, slams as 'electoral games'
Mandelblit did not reject the idea from being raised by a new and permanent government following the March 2 election.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBIsrael's Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announces his decision regarding indictment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged corruption, in Jerusalem November 21, 2019; Israel justice minister, Amir Ohana attends a special cabinet meeting in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights June 16, (photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)
Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit on Thursday vetoed Acting Justice Minister Amir Ohana’s proposal to establish a state commission to probe and potentially take away the prosecution’s handling of complaints against the police.While Ohana announced his idea on Tuesday saying it related to the prosecution’s unduly lenient treatment of a policeman (he was indicted for mere negligent homicide) who shot and killed Ethiopian Solomon Tekah in June 2019, Mandelblit’s letter on Thursday rejected the idea as illegal saying that pursuing it now would politicize the issue as an electoral one.Mandelblit did not reject the idea from being raised by a new and permanent government following the March 2 election.However, the attorney-general did say that since the current government is merely transitional and operating during an election season, that it lacks the authority to carry out such a complex and impactful change.Besides saying that the change would be clouded by electoral considerations, Mandelblit said that it was inappropriate for the current transitional government to hamstring the new fully authoritative government which would rise after March 2.In addition, Mandelblit said that Ohana’s proposed commission chairman, former judge Haran Feinstein, had issued multiple public posts where he had said he had no confidence in the neutrality of the prosecution.According to Mandelblit, this blatant anti-prosecution attitude disqualifies Feinstein from eligibility to run the commission, and Ohana’s desire to appoint someone with such an obvious public bias, exposes the political considerations underlying Ohana’s proposal.Finally, Mandelblit said that in the coming month, a commission that he appointed to address the issue of potential bias by the police against Ethiopians, would be producing its recommendations for reforms. He said this made Ohana’s idea no rush and that the issue could wait a new government was formed.
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