State attorney warns against ‘deliberate erosion’ of public trust in law enforcement

Top prosecutor criticizes politicians’ refusal to heed police summons as blow to rule of law, says placing agency that probes police under justice minister will politicize investigations

State Attorney Amit Aisman warned Thursday against attempts to pressure and delegitimize law enforcement agencies, saying such efforts threaten to erode the rule of law in Israel.

Speaking at a legal conference at Haifa University, the top prosecutor lamented that “interested parties” have been involved in the “deliberate erosion of public trust in the law enforcement system and repeated attempts to drag legal rulings into political quarrels.”

“The challenge is no longer just to solve cases and file indictments, the challenge is to ensure that the law is enforced equitably even when inconvenient, even when it rouses opposition,” he said.

He referenced government corruption in particular and called the burgeoning phenomenon “not just a criminal offense but a strike at the foundations of the regime.”

The State Attorney’s Office is currently dealing with a litany of criminal investigations concerning public officials at the local and national levels, including several cases linked to coalition lawmakers and a years-long probe into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself.

Amid these cases, some politicians under investigation for corruption and other criminal offenses have leveled verbal attacks against the State Attorney’s Office and police detectives, decrying probes as politically-motivated witch hunts.

In the most recent blow to the prosecutor’s office, the Knesset voted earlier this month to grant Likud MK Tally Gotliv immunity from prosecution for exposing the identity of a Shin Bet officer, shielding her from an indictment over social media posts in which she identified the partner of anti-government protest leader Shikma Bressler as a security agent.

Coalition lawmakers celebrated the vote as a blow to the judicial system’s supposed “political persecution” of right-wing elected officials and lauded Gotliv herself for the very actions that made her liable for prosecution.

Enforcement agencies find themselves under intense political pressure when it comes to these sensitive cases, Aisman said. Without naming names, he warned against attempts to evade justice by delegitimizing the legal system as a whole.

“Shows of not appearing for questioning, giving automatic support to suspects for political reasons and [causing] deliberate disturbances in court hearings don’t only do harm to a certain investigation or legal proceeding, but undermine the very legitimacy of the enforcement and judicial systems as a whole,” he said.

Though “criticism of the law enforcement system is legitimate and even desirable, Aisman said the behavior of certain politicians amounts to “delegitimization.”

“The fight against government corruption is not political; it is meant to ensure a simple principle: there is no one who is above the law, even when he holds power,” he added.

Aisman also mentioned a law passed June 11 by the ruling coalition that gives the justice minister — currently Likud lawmaker Yariv Levin — direct control over the Department of Internal Police Investigations.

The law subordinates the agency, which probes criminal suspicions against police officers, to an elected official as opposed to professional prosecutors in the State Attorney’s Office, raising fears that it could politicize criminal cases against police.

“There is concern that the law is meant to create mechanisms that could be used as a means to pressure investigators fulfilling their duties. Deterred investigators will not probe corruption offenses,” Aisman warned.

“The discussion about the DIPI law is not just a discussion about organizational structure. It touches on a much broader question: how does a democratic country ensure that the bodies overseeing enforcement authorities can operate without fear or dependence?” he said.

The actions mentioned by Aisman are part of a broader effort by the government to overhaul the judicial system and reduce its power, making it subservient to the political echelon. Critics warn this will undermine Israel’s system of checks and balances and put democracy at risk.