Justice minister to appear at Knesset hearing to prevent deputy AG from doing so
Ayelet Shaked has vowed that Dina Zilber will no longer represent government in parliament following latter’s criticism of legislation
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked announced Sunday she would represent her ministry at a Knesset hearing on regulating the dairy industry, instead of controversial Deputy Attorney General Dina Zilber.
In a statement to the press, Shaked’s office said the move “followed [Shaked’s] announcement that Zilber would not appear in Knesset committees during the winter session” of the parliament.
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 has since been put on hold after it failed to win enough support in the Knesset to come up for a final vote into law.
Had it passed, it would have transferred the authority to cut culture funding from the Finance Ministry to the Culture Ministry headed by firebrand 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 last month, 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 Zilber’s comments as unprofessional, saying in a complaint letter to her boss, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, that it was “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 said the politically loaded terminology she had used had harmed the Attorney General’s Office.
Shaked hit back at Mandelblit’s decision and insisted she would not allow Zilber to participate in Knesset committee meetings as a representative of the Justice Ministry’s position during the current parliamentary session, which is scheduled to last until March.
Later, Knesset legal adviser Eyal Yinon informed Knesset committee chairs that they did not have the authority to deny Zilber access if she was sent by Mandelblit to represent him.
That may have left Shaked with no alternative means of denying Zilber access to Knesset committees except to take on those committee appearances herself, as the most senior official in the Justice Ministry.
Shaked’s announcement Sunday concerned a meeting in the Knesset Economy Committee that deals with a new agreement between the government and the dairy industry over subsidies and retail prices, an agreement Zilber has been heavily involved in orchestrating.
