Haaretz Newspaper's Wishful Thinking
Haaretz Newspaper's Wishful Thinking

“Netanyahu Set to Bury Levy Report” screamed the headline in Haaretz and Israel National News reported it.

I never trust Haaretz and noted that no one was quoted in the article. So I called up Min Daniel Hershkowitz of The Jewish Home (NRP) religious Zionist party to get the lowdown.

When I told him about the Haaretz report he said it was just wishful thinking on their part. The situation is, as I suspected, a matter of timing only. Apparently there are a number of urgent matters, that the Ministerial Committee, of which Min Hershkowitz is a member, had to deal with involving the High Court orders or the EU. There was just no time to consider it, nor was there urgency.

He also said that the Attorney General (AG) is refusing to endorse the Levy Report or is at least opposed to it.

This creates problems for the government because the Office of the AG is independent of the Government and it would not be right or even possible to order them to support it. Furthermore it is not an easy thing to fire him. There must be cause.

There is also the possibility of hiring independent counsel to represent the government on a particular matter, but this is complicated because the High Court would no doubt ask what the position of the AG was on the issue. Finally, when the government goes at the end of its term, the AG also goes and another appointment will be made by the next government.

I suggested to him that the Prime Minister and Justice Minister Ne’eman knew what the Levy Report would contain even as they were appointing the members, so that the Report came as no surprise.

He said that I might well be right.  That is my belief in any event.