Attorney-general urges High Court to block PID appointments, warns of politicization

Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara has asked Israel's High Court of Justice to stop two senior appointments to the restructured Police Investigation Department while the country is in an election period.

The dispute concerns the director of the restructured department and a senior official who would resolve disputes involving investigations of police officers. The positions are central to implementing a law passed in June that removed the department from the State Attorney's Office and established it as a separate body within the Justice Ministry.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin argues that the appointments should move forward before the October 27 election. He says the usual limits on major appointments before an election should not apply as strongly because the Knesset completed its term and the government still retains its confidence. Baharav-Miara rejects that distinction. She says election-period restrictions also prevent political officials from making last-minute appointments, securing influential positions or limiting the next government's choices.

She further disputes Levin's claim that an independent professional committee would make the appointments. According to her filing, Levin has direct or indirect influence over three of the committee's five members. Justice Ministry Director-General Itamar Donenfeld, described as a political appointee serving in a position of trust under Levin, chairs the committee.

The court has already temporarily barred new steps in the appointment process while it considers requests for an interim injunction. The petitions are scheduled for a December 28 hearing before Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, Deputy President Noam Sohlberg and Justice Dafna Barak-Erez.