Chief Prosecutor, Eran Shendar, announced Wednesday that he will be retiring in August 2007, after three years on the job. The two previous State Attorneys – Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish and Supreme Court Judge Edna Arbel – held the job for 7 and 8 years, respectively. Shendar was appointed for a six year term.
Shendar's advanced announcement is meant to give enough time for a committee to select his replacement.
Minister of Justice Daniel Friedmann said he was sorry to hear Shendar's announcement. "I thank Shendar for the good execution of his challenging job, which he carried out with integrity, fairness and responsibility," Friedmann said. The minister also made clear he would cooperate with Attorney General Menachem Mazuz in finding a suitable replacement for Shendar.
In past interviews, Shendar said he had no intention of completing the six year term, but did not say how long he would stay on.
Shendar, 55 was appointed to the post in 2004, after he had already retired from the State Prosecution office. He had been the head of the Justice Ministry's Department for Investigation of Policemen from its inception until his initial retirement.
In a letter he handed to his superiors Wednesday, Shendar explained the reason for his retirement.
"Three years ago I was offered the post of Chief Prosecutor," he wrote. "I thought at the time that this was an offer that one must not refuse, but from the outset I emphasized that I was not going to serve out a full… term, but to carry out a change in a set time frame."
'the train has left the station and its direction is clear.'
Shendar said his goals were "to stabilize the system and to lead it to four main goals: fighting public corruption, combating organized crime, protecting the individual's security and guarding state property."
With regard to all of these goals, he says, "we are in the midst of a process, even if in some of them we are only at its beginning stage." The feeling, he says, is that "the train has left the station and its direction is clear."
Shendar's main assignment in the coming month is the decision whether to press charges against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert regarding the privatization of the controlling group in Bank Leumi. Attorney General Mazuz disqualified himself in the case because his sister, Yemima Mazuz, was the legal counsel for the Bank Leumi sale procedure, at the time that Olmert was serving as acting finance minister.
Shendar's advanced announcement is meant to give enough time for a committee to select his replacement.
Minister of Justice Daniel Friedmann said he was sorry to hear Shendar's announcement. "I thank Shendar for the good execution of his challenging job, which he carried out with integrity, fairness and responsibility," Friedmann said. The minister also made clear he would cooperate with Attorney General Menachem Mazuz in finding a suitable replacement for Shendar.
In past interviews, Shendar said he had no intention of completing the six year term, but did not say how long he would stay on.
Shendar, 55 was appointed to the post in 2004, after he had already retired from the State Prosecution office. He had been the head of the Justice Ministry's Department for Investigation of Policemen from its inception until his initial retirement.
In a letter he handed to his superiors Wednesday, Shendar explained the reason for his retirement.
"Three years ago I was offered the post of Chief Prosecutor," he wrote. "I thought at the time that this was an offer that one must not refuse, but from the outset I emphasized that I was not going to serve out a full… term, but to carry out a change in a set time frame."
'the train has left the station and its direction is clear.'
Shendar said his goals were "to stabilize the system and to lead it to four main goals: fighting public corruption, combating organized crime, protecting the individual's security and guarding state property."
With regard to all of these goals, he says, "we are in the midst of a process, even if in some of them we are only at its beginning stage." The feeling, he says, is that "the train has left the station and its direction is clear."
Shendar's main assignment in the coming month is the decision whether to press charges against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert regarding the privatization of the controlling group in Bank Leumi. Attorney General Mazuz disqualified himself in the case because his sister, Yemima Mazuz, was the legal counsel for the Bank Leumi sale procedure, at the time that Olmert was serving as acting finance minister.