AG refutes claim he’s appointed himself state prosecutor

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit dismisses claims that he has appointed himself state prosecutor, saying that he is only filling the role in the interim.

Responding to a High Court petition against his filling of the role, Mandelblit says he is following the agreement that was reached after the most recent state prosecutor Shai Nitzan stepped down last December. Then, Mandelblit took on the responsibilities of Nitzan’s office until an interim state prosecutor was appointed.

Dan Eldad served in the post for 12 weeks from February to the beginning of May at which point Mandelblit again began assuming the duties of the position until a permanent appointment is made.

On Tuesday, new Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn said he would initially hold off on appointing a new acting state attorney, a position that was at the center of a feud between his predecessor Amir Ohana and Mandelblit.

Under the coalition deal between Blue and White and Likud, the parties agreed to hold off for six months on making senior appointments that require government approval. They later agreed to scale that back to 100 days after criticism from the High Court of Justice.