Attorney general sends controversial deputy to Knesset, testing minister’s ire

In a move that could send sparks flying in the top echelons of the Israeli legal world, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has decided to send his deputy Dina Zilber to represent his office at an upcoming Knesset debate on the Legal Advisers Bill.

The decision is being seen in the Knesset as a direct challenge to Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked who demanded that Zilber no longer be allowed to represent the government in the parliamentary debates after she harshly criticized legislation in a Knesset meeting earlier this month.

Zilber drew the ire of right-wing lawmakers on November 6, when she slammed the so-called “Loyalty in Culture” bill during a meeting of the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee. She said the legislation, which threatens to strip state funding for cultural institutions that produce art seen as overly critical of the government or the state, “poses real difficulties.”

The bill would transfer the authority to cut culture funding from the Finance Ministry to the Culture Ministry headed by Culture Minister Miri Regev.

The authority that the legislation aims to grant the Culture Ministry creates “a cooling and self-censoring effect,” Zilber told lawmakers at the meeting, adding: “The country is changing. These are not simple days and they are bringing us not only new laws but… confrontational dialogue, the wounding and scarring of our shared social fabric, labeling and branding — who is for us and who is against us.” She accused lawmakers of seeking “obedient legal advisers, compliant artists, a complacent media, and a deferential public with a single unified opinion.”

Shaked slammed the comments as unprofessional, saying in a letter to Mandelblit later in the day, “It is clear that she does not wish to act professionally and honestly as a legal adviser.” She suggested Zilber would be a better fit as a candidate for political office, but had “crossed every line” as a public servant and should be removed from her post.

After temporarily suspending Zilber’s Knesset appearances and holding a disciplinary inquiry into her comments, Mandelblit announced he would not fire his deputy, but sent her a letter chastising her behavior, and saying the politically loaded terminology she had used had harmed the Attorney General’s Office.

In the letter, Mandelblit wrote: “I expect you to use judgment in the future and refrain from similar remarks. You will continue to represent me anywhere needed, including at the Knesset and the government. In the near future, you must coordinate the opinions you intend to express with me ahead of time.”

Shaked responded to the letter by saying she will not let Zilber participate in Knesset committee meetings during the current parliamentary session, which is expected to last until March.

That vow will soon be tested.

On November 19, Mandelblit’s office announced Zilber would for the first time be returning to represent the government’s positions in Knesset forums. She will represent the Attorney General’s Office in an upcoming debate in the State Control Committee on the Legal Advisers Bill, to be chaired by committee head MK Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Union).

Mandelblit’s announcement came hours after the Knesset’s own top legal adviser, Eyal Yinon, informed the chairs of the Knesset’s 12 permanent and nine special committees that they did not have the authority to deny Zilber access to their committee if she is sent by Mandelblit to represent his office.

“Proper legislative procedures require that the view of the attorney general be heard in relation to the laws debated in committees,” Yinon wrote in the letter sent Monday.

“Committee chairpersons are not permitted to mix their views about the public debate [over Zilber’s comments] and the use of their administrative authority [over their committees] to dictate to the attorney general, whose unique position and independence is undisputed, who will represent his position in the committee. Therefore, and for as long as attorney Zilber is sent by the attorney general to represent him in a committee of the Knesset, she must be allowed to appear before the committee,” Yinon wrote.