Attorney general’s praise for Livni at farewell raises hackles

Recently fired ministers Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni bade farewell to their respective offices Thursday, with Livni receiving a glowing commendation from Attorney General Yehudah Weinstein, who drew fire for the remarks.

During a farewell ceremony for Livni at the Justice Ministry, Weinstein heaped praise on the former minister.

“You were a firm, solid, and high-grade support for everything that I tried to do in the office,” Weinstein said, calling Livni “the gatekeeper of democracy.”

“You were an asset to the Justice Ministry,” he said. “This farewell is personally difficult for me. We developed a genuine friendship. I don’t want to say anything political, but the Israeli public can’t give up on your skills, abilities, and integrity.”

Deputy Education Minister Avi Wortzman (Jewish Home) denounced Weinstein for making the fawning statement during an election campaign and called for the attorney general’s resignation, Channel 10 reported.

“Weinstein crossed a red line and openly intervened in an unprecedented way in the election process,” he said. “After what he said there is nothing left for him to do but put his keys on the table and resign his position.”

Livni and Weinstein both openly opposed as undemocratic the controversial “Jewish state” bill that seeks to define Israel as a Jewish national state. Netanyahu strongly supported the bill, and the difference of opinion set in motion a rapid, irreversible deterioration of the government coalition.

At a similar farewell ceremony in the Finance Ministry, Lapid lamented his unfinished work.

“Today I was supposed to celebrate here the signing of an agreement to raise the minimum wage, but it will have to wait for the next stage,” he said.

Lapid instructed the ministry employees to preserve the integrity of the office because, he said, it reflects the integrity of the whole country.

“What I leave I will know one thing: The welfare and safety of the citizens of Israel are in the best possible hands.”

Netanyahu fired Lapid and Livni on Tuesday in a move that brought an end to the coalition and set the country on course for new elections scheduled for March 17 next year.

The Likud party slammed political opponents for molding their election campaigns around what appears to be an effort directed mainly at dethroning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The cat is out of the bag,” the party said in a statement Thursday. “The whole goal of the left wing parties is to replace Netanyahu.”

“Once again it has been shown that the elections this time deal with one issue: who will be the next prime minister. Will it be one of the candidates from the left-wing, or Netanyahu at the head of strong and united government from the national camp?”

The party called on voters aligned with the nationalistic camp to vote Likud in order to give Netanyahu enough mandates to form a strong government.

In an interview with Army Radio, opposition leader and head of the Labor party Isaac Herzog candidly said that pushing Netanyahu out of power was his main objective.

“Anyone who knows and is familiar with the undercurrents among the Israeli public knows that there is a real opportunity for change, for a revolution,” he said. “I believe I am challenging Netanyahu.”

Herzog brushed off recent polls that showed Netanyahu and the right-wing parties gaining a strong majority over the left and said that the public has not yet entered into the frame of mind for elections and their significance.

“It must be understood that these elections are fateful and could be the last chance to take the wheel in a different direction,” he said. “When I look at the Likud members I see them pressured. They are pressured and they know why they are under pressure. They know that I have the capability to make connections and they know that I know how to build coalitions.”

However, Herzog would not be drawn to comment on who he hopes to form a future government with and avoided answering direct questions as to whether he would join a coalition under Netanyahu.

“Everyone is talking with everyone,” he said. “All options are open.”

Earlier, Channel 10 reported that newly sacked finance minister Lapid, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and popular ex-Likud minister Moshe Kahlon, whose newly created party will run in the 2015 elections, are said to be in talks for a new partnership to counter Netanyahu’s reported alliance with Economy Minister Naftali Bennett.

According to Channel 10, the three politicians have been discussing a potential alliance for weeks, in anticipation of Netanyahu calling for early elections.

While the report indicated that the chances were slim to none that the three parties — Yesh Atid, Yisrael Beytenu and the not-yet-named Kahlon faction — would join forces, it said that the three could cooperate in other ways, including presenting a united front on whom to recommend for the premiership following the elections, or agreeing to not target each other during the campaign in the run-up to March 17.

What the three have in common is a desire to see someone other than Netanyahu at the helm, the report said.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.