Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit reprimanded his deputy Dina Zilber for a speech she gave earlier this month bashing Israel's ruling coalition.
In a letter sent to Zilber, Mandeblit said that her remarks were inappropriate for a civil servant and added that he viewed her actions with severity.
"I have decided to comment on you in the wake of your statements, which I look at with severity because they have seriously exceeded... from the accepted and appropriate legal counsel in the civil service," wrote Mandeblit.
The Attorney General added that Zilber's remarks were especially onerous due to the fact that they had spoken shortly before her appearance in the Knesset and that she had not informed him of her prepared remarks. "If such statements had come up, I would never have approved it," he wrote.
However, Mandelblit clarified that he does not accept the position of Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, according to which Zilber is not allowed to appear in the Knesset on behalf of the government.
"It goes without saying that within the framework of your position as Deputy Attorney General, you will continue to represent me wherever this is required, including in the Knesset and in the government," Mandeblit said.
During an appearance at the Knesset earlier this month, Zilber chose to deviate from the legal and constitutional issues and made a speech that aroused the wrath of Justice Minister Shaked and many political officials.
"The days bring not only new laws but new words - loyalty, governance, and more" Zilber said in a discussion of the Law and claimed there is "a wounding social discourse. If someone can be loyal, can someone else be a traitor? A Fifth column?"
Following her speech, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked sent a letter to the Attorney General demanding that Zilber be prevented from appearing on the various Knesset committees.
"We have to be wary of the politicization of legal counsel, and when a legal adviser makes a political speech, it is a dangerous process and undermines the confidence of the elected echelon," said Shaked. "No one in the attorney general's office expresses political opinions and certainly not against the government."