State comptroller rejects Likud MK's bid to probe attorney general

Englman says there’s no reason to investigate nomination of Mandelblit, as High Court already looked into appointment in 2016

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman on Sunday rejected a request from a Likud lawmaker to launch a probe into the appointment of Avichai Mandelblit as attorney general.

Mandelblit, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former cabinet secretary, was tapped by the Likud leader for the job in 2016. During his tenure, he has charged the incumbent premier with the bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges for which Netanyahu is currently on trial.

Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing and he and his supporters allege a conspiracy by law enforcement and the media seeking to force him from power.

As Mandelblit moved to indict Netanyahu, his followers and supporters have attempted to discredit him by raising his role in the so-called Harpaz Affair a decade ago, for which he was cleared of any suspicion by Israel’s top court.

Last week, Likud MK Shlomo Karai asked the comptroller to exercise his watchdog powers to evaluate the nomination process for Mandelblit.

Englman declined, telling Karai in a letter Sunday that the issue had already been thoroughly investigated as part of a High Court of Justice petition in 2016, challenging Mandelblit’s appointment, which was rejected.

In May, Englman also turned down then-justice minister Amir Ohana’s request for a wide-ranging probe of the state prosecution. In a letter to Ohana, Englman wrote that there was “no reason to deviate from the work plan that was determined regarding the State Attorney’s Office,” and that the State Comptroller’s Office would continue its work, which includes a general review of the prosecution’s work.

Ohana, a confidant of Netanyahu, has been a sharp critic of the justice system and has slammed prosecutors over the premier’s indictment on graft charges.