Dear Friends,
IDI has been featured in headlines across Israel over the past 48 hours—in more than 12 full-print newspaper articles, 15 radio interviews, 14 internet publications and blogs, and on the news broadcasts of nearly every television station. The reason for this sudden burst of coverage is the impassioned debate that took place around IDI’s George Shultz Roundtable on the evening of September 7th. The title of the Roundtable Forum was To Divide or Not Divide: A Discussion of the Implications of Splitting the Responsibilities of the Attorney General.
The Forum, which included Minister of Justice, Prof. Yaakov Neeman, Attorney General, Adv. Menachem Mazuz, Chief Justice (ret.) Meir Shamgar, IDI scholars, and a host of Israel’s leading attorneys and academics, was convened to discuss a bill drafted by the previous Minister of Justice, which calls for the establishment of two separate authorities out of the office of the Attorney General. The creation of these two offices would thereby assign the responsibilities that traditionally fell under the singular authority of the Attorney General—that of Legal Advisor to the Government and that of Chief Prosecutor—to two separate and distinct entities.
In an era of Israeli politics marked by the criminal investigations, indictments, and trials of Israel’s top leadership, the power and responsibilities of this particular public servant are of great concern to politicians and citizens alike. Sensing the urgency of this issue, IDI initiated a nonpartisan, high-level forum in which all sides of the debate could air their views.
The primary questions posed in the debate were:
· Is there a problem with one, non-elected individual maintaining the tremendous power currently embodied in the position of Attorney General?
· Is there a conflict of interests in serving as both legal advisor to, and chief prosecutor of the same government?
· Would the separation of the Attorney General's powers into two different positions strengthen or weaken efficiency in these vital areas?
We invite you to read more about this debate on IDI’s website.
Warm regards from Jerusalem,
Barak Cohen
Director, International Communications
The Israel Democracy Institute
Barak@idi.org.il
