First publication: Attorney General working to sabotage the establishment of the new DIU
The Attorney General and her staff are actively working to obstruct the creation of the new DIU. c14 has learned that officials are pressuring potential search committee candidates to decline their appointments.
First publication: The Attorney General and her staff are working to sabotage the establishment of the new DIU (Department of Internal Investigations). It has come to the attention of c14 that in recent weeks, officials in the Attorney General's office have been pressuring potential candidates for membership in the search committee for the establishment of the DIU not to accept the position.
As recalled, the DIU law, which was approved in its final reading in the Knesset, stipulates that the Department of Internal Investigations will be removed from the State Attorney's Office and established as an independent body, separate from the State Attorney's Office and the Attorney General's office.
Last week, under the guidance of Minister of Justice Yariv Levin, the Director General of the Ministry of Justice, Itamar Donenfeld, who heads the search committee, convened a meeting with professional staff to advance the establishment of the new department in accordance with the law. During the discussion, Donenfeld instructed to prepare for the establishment of the new department in the ministry immediately and to update him on developments every month.
As reported on c14, one candidate has already been selected for the position, Adv. Avi Amiram, who represented the commander of Force 100 who was accused in the Military Advocate General affair, but so far no other candidates have been found for the search committee.
The Attorney General and the State Attorney's Office oppose the establishment of the new DIU, which will take the department out of the hands of the State Attorney's Office, and are now working to sabotage the establishment of the search committee by pressuring potential candidates to refuse to serve on it. This is despite the fact that the law has passed, and without a search committee, it cannot be implemented.
Today, the Knesset Legal Advisor, Sagit Afik, submitted her opinion regarding the issuance of interim injunctions that would block the establishment of the DIU, stating that the court should not issue such orders that would freeze the continuation of the process of establishing the search committee and the department itself.
Although the search committee has not yet been established, the Civil Service Commission published a call for applications for the head of the DIU. Although the deadline has passed, no suitable candidate was found, and a new date was set until mid-August for submitting applications for the position.
