Israel Matzav

Watchdog calls to fire AG after he gives election plug for Livni

For those of you who have wondered why Prime Minister Netanyahu has not fired extreme Leftist Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, the most likely answer is that he feared media-orchestrated Leftist outrage. That fear is gone tonight. The Movement for Governability and Democracy, a non-partisan watchdog, has in essence called on Netanyahu to fire Weinstein after Weinstein broke the election laws by campaigning for former 'justice' minister Tzipi Livni. Netanyahu now has the political cover he needs.

The Movement for Governability and Democracy on Thursday wrote to Netanyahu, who holds the legal portfolio and essentially functions above the attorney general.

"A reality in which the attorney general of the country allows himself to act against the law, or even in the gray area of the law, can't be allowed, especially when we are dealing with invalid involvement in elections proceedings," wrote the movement.

Yehuda Amrani, head of the movement, wrote to Netanyahu in the letter "I ask you to act accordingly to your authority as prime minister and justice minister, and take the steps at your disposal against the attorney general."

The letter, which was also sent to Central Elections Committee chairperson Judge Salim Joubran, included a clause from the election laws determining that state employees can not take part in election propaganda.

Likewise, the letter noted that Weinstein also breached the guidelines of the attorney general, which state "a description of personal achievements of the minister or of a worker in the ministry," or an announcement "that has an emphasis and preference for controversial policy in the public that isn't in the frame of clear declared policy of the ministry," is forbidden in election periods.

The movement argued that Weinstein's statement that "the public in Israel can't give up on your skills" is election propaganda, and his references to Livni as a "guardian of democracy" in context of the Jewish State Law "are surprising and raise difficulties in context of the obligation on state workers to avoid propaganda."

Here's hoping Netanyahu has the spine to take the bait from Amrani. 

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Israeli democracy, Knesset elections 2015, Tzipi Livni, Yehuda Weinstein

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:49 PM