Justice Minister Amir Ohana does not regret the press conference where he strongly criticized senior prosecutors. Even after the wave of attacks against him - not only does he not regret his words, but for him this is just the beginning.
He says: "My request to investigate the leaks in the prosecution's office was directed to Attorney General Mandelblit. It is quite possible that if I get no serious response to this week's press conference, I'd like to exercise my authority and set up a government review committee to investigate prosecution conduct."
In an interview with the Israel Hayom newspaper, Ohana rejected criticism that he is "acting as a puppet on a string" of Netanyahu, saying that he, and not the Prime Minister, initiated the press conference.
"This is a derogatory statement that doesn't deal with the content. Is something that I said wrong? Is what I have described correct? Should it be this way? My desire to clean out the system has many partners across the entire political spectrum. The public would like those who are in charge of purity of ethics to themselves observe it."
The Justice Minister emphasizes that "Netanyahu didn't promote it and didn't ask for it. I know the prosecutor's office well. I did my internship in the prosecutor's office. Most of them do a great job, but there's also a prosecutor's office within the prosecutor's office. The one who determines that the political agenda should be dictated according to the interrogation agenda."
Ohana refers to the Attorney General's and State Prosecutor's response to the press conference and says "I heard the announcement by the Attorney General and the State Prosecutor backing the Prosecutor's Office with regret. What are they backing? A false affidavit? That Liat Ben Ari signed an affidavit that she didn't pressure the deputy prosecutor - and then it turned out that she was recorded saying she did? The tailor-made tender? That her superior had arranged for her job to bind her not only to his successor, but also to his successor's successor for eight years from now?"
In the meantime, and in light of Minister Ohana's fierce attack on senior prosecutors, Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut attacked statements made in the political system towards the law enforcement system. The full interview will be published in Hebrew tomorrow (Friday) in Israel Hayom's Supplement Israel Hashavua.