The State Attorney's Office submitted a preliminary response to the court this morning (Wednesday) ahead of the hearing of the petitions filed against the appointment of retired judge Yosef Ben Hamo to the position of investigator in the "Mazrit Affair.".
The submitted document claims that Justice Minister Yariv Levin acted contrary to the provisions of the law and the High Court ruling, when he decided to hire his brother-in-law for a temporary position as a civil servant, for the sole purpose of his appointment. "The decision empties the language of the law of its content," it states.
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According to the state, the law requires that the role of accompanying legal advisor be assigned only to a senior civil servant - a criterion that Ben Hamu did not meet at the time the decision was made, but was recruited "ad hoc" for a temporary position.
The response also stated that the consultation process with the Civil Service Commissioner, which was required by law, was based on only a partial infrastructure, without detailing whether the minister contacted other candidates from the ranks of the civil service, what his considerations were, and by what means the process was carried out.
In a response submitted by Attorney Ran Rosenberg of the High Court of Justice Department, it was claimed that the consultation letter sent by Levin on November 18 was written "without legal support and without factual reasoning.".
According to the prosecution, the entire procedure took place in a very short period of 48 hours, and immediately after the High Court ruling was issued - the ruling that established the criteria according to which an external escort can be appointed for the investigation.
It was also claimed that the appointment was accompanied by concerns about extraneous considerations, in light of statements by MK Moshe Saada, who stated in the Constitution Committee that in his opinion the accompanying prosecutor should investigate the legal advisor to the government. "Such statements indicate a real concern that the purpose of the procedure was to bring about the replacement of the legal advisor by determining the identity of the prosecutor," it was written.
. The Attorney General's Office is seeking to order the cancellation of Ben Hamo's appointment and to invalidate the minister's decision, because "there are fundamental flaws in the appointment of retired judge Yosef Ben Hamo.".
The petitions submitted to the High Court of Justice will be discussed by a panel of Justices Yitzhak Amit, Yael Wilner, and Khaled Kabob.
On the other hand, Justice Minister Yariv Levin appealed to the High Court judges to reject the petitions and allow the appointment to take effect.
According to him, the delay in the appointment could lead to disruption of the investigation: "Every hour that passes increases the fear of disruption of the investigation by those involved in the case, irreversible evidentiary damage and a danger to the very ability to investigate the truth.".
""History will judge who acted to investigate the truth and who acted with a conflict of interest, thwarted, disrupted, postponed and delayed the investigation of the truth," Levin added. "The court will not be able to say again that senior officials in the judicial system misled it.".
