Watchdog groups petition against Genot appointment

Petition refers to a 1996 Supreme Court ruling that was highly critical of Genot's conduct while serving as police commander of the Northern District.

By DAN IZENBERG
Yaakov Genot 298.88 (photo credit: Channel 10)
Yaakov Genot 298.88
(photo credit: Channel 10)
The Movement for Quality Government on Wednesday petitioned the High Court of Justice against Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter's intention to appoint Ya'acov Genot police inspector-general. The watchdog organization also called on the Turkel Committee, which is responsible for vetting nominations to senior Civil Service positions, to reject Genot's appointment. In their petition, Movement for Quality Government lawyers Eliad Shraga and Daniel Kayros referred to a Supreme Court ruling in 1996 that was highly critical of Genot's conduct while serving as police commander of the Northern District. "The appointment of a man who was the subject of such a ruling to head a government system in the State of Israel is improper," the lawyers wrote. "This is 100 times truer when talking about the post of police inspector-general." The petitioners said they had wanted to wait before submitting their petition until the Turkel Committee had decided whether to approve Genot's appointment. But since committee head Ya'acov Turkel had announced that he was waiting for the High Court to rule on the petitions submitted against the appointment, they had had no choice but to file their petition now. The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel on Tuesday petitioned the High Court against Turkel for waiting until the High Court ruled on the petitions before dealing with Dichter's recommendation to appoint Genot. The organization's attorney, Yitzhak Bam, wrote that the committee was an internal organ of the executive branch of government and an intrinsic part of the procedure for making senior Civil Service appointments. The High Court of Justice was an external factor in the appointments procedure, Bam wrote, and as long as the court had not issued an interim injunction to the committee instructing it to suspend the procedure until it ruled on the petitions, the committee had to carry out its duties. Bam added that should the court reject his arguments regarding the Turkel Committee, the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel would ask it to reject Genot's appointment on the grounds that he was unworthy of the post.