Netanyahu: Latest mob-related attack in Tel Aviv ‘a threat to rule of law’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a telephone briefing Thursday with Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, chief of Israel Police Yohanan Danino and Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein following an attempted mob-related assassination of a top state prosecutor in Tel Aviv earlier.

“This is a very grave incident. It is a threat to the rule of law. We have to give top priority to the investigation into this incident and to exhaust all means to bring the perpetrators to justice,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Earlier Thursday, a car bomb destroyed the vehicle of a senior prosecutor in the Central District State Attorney’s Office in Tel Aviv in yet another incident believed to be linked to organized crime.

No one was hurt in the explosion.

According to police, the car belonged to a senior member of the state prosecution who led the cases against major crime organizations and was considered an aggressive prosecutor.

The vehicle was parked outside the Central District of the State Attorney’s Office, on Dafna Street near the Ichilov Medical Center, when it exploded shortly before 6 p.m. The District Court and office of the public defender are located alongside the State Attorney’s Office building.

The investigation of the case has been handed to Lahav, a special police unit consisting of some 1,000 officers charged with combating and dismantling organized crime groups, according to Yarkon District Police Commander Yehuda Dahan.

While the prosecutor’s name was previously reported in the media, a court placed a blanket ban Thursday night on identifying him.

The prosecutor in question had prosecuted five senior members of the crime organization headed by Amir Mulner, successfully appealing rulings for their release. He was involved in further investigations targeting the organization.