The Ometz good government organization demanded Sunday that the State Prosecutor's Office examine conflicts of interest among public relations representatives working on behalf of government institutions. In a letter the group sent to the Prosecutor's Office, Ometz says that PR people representing different groups with negating interests might be tempted to withhold information in their press releases in order to gloss over clashing interests.
Ometz chairman Aryeh Avneri said that the problem was a growing one. Just recently, he said, a PR firm at the same time provided services to the High Court, to the Tax Authority's stock market supervision unit, and to financial firm Apex, which is attempting to purchase the Psagot investment firm, two of whose employees are suspected of financial misdeeds. Avneri said that the instance was one of many "complicated and problematic combinations of interest" in this area.