The Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, chaired by MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism), and the foreign affairs and Defense Committee, chaired by MK Boaz Bismuth (Likud), convened on Wednesday for a joint debate entitled “Prevention of conflicts of interest in the investigation of the Military Advocate General and the investigation of false affidavits submitted to the Supreme Court.”
The Attorney General, the State Attorney and the head of the Israel Police’s Investigations and Intelligence Department were invited to the meeting. The Attorney General’s bureau sent a letter ahead of the meeting explaining that she would not attend the meeting.
The committee members present voted in favor of a decision proposed by Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Chair MK Rothman to summon the three officials to a meeting to be held later on Wednesday. MK Rothman: “The wording of the decision we will vote upon is a decision under article 123 of the Knesset Rules of Procedure—the Constitution Committee and the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee summon the Attorney General, the State Attorney and the head of the Investigations and Intelligence Department to a committee meeting that will be held today until 11:00 AM or ten minutes after the end of the knesset plenum‘s sitting. They must come before the committee and present the information they hold on the activity of the agencies they head in connection with the affair. If they do not appear, we will request from the Speaker of the Knesset to demand that the Civil Service Commissioner take all measures against them.”
The decision was approved by the votes of five committee members, without opposing votes or abstentions. The members of the opposition were absent from the meeting.
In the debate, Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chair MK Bismuth said, “What’s interesting here is not necessarily our friends who are here but those who aren’t present. The members of the opposition are giving a lesson in hypocrisy. I remember that in this committee, not only did the opposition come to sit on the chairs, it climbed on the tables. But when the walls are collapsing before our eyes, they don’t come.
“Doesn’t the Sde Teiman story harm the IDF soldiers? Perhaps there are different categories of soldiers in Israel; if you’re in the Military Advocate General’s Corps then you’re protected, and if you’re a soldier in Sde Teiman you are forsaken.
“There is no doubt that there were cover-up attempts, a heavy shadow lies over an entire system. The public expects transparency and we will ensure that it is delivered. The same officials involved in the affair are the ones who are conducting the investigation. There is a system that is protecting itself instead of protecting the truth, and the Attorney General cannot be the suspect, the supervisor and the judge at the same time,” said MK Bismuth.
Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism official Shlomit Hammer: “A year ago, the ministry set up a control and monitoring center for combating antisemitism that collects and documents all the incidents. We conducted preliminary research on the Sde Teiman affair, and analyzed the antisemitic discourse in the wake of the affair. We found that there were several phrases and narratives that gained traction on social media, primarily the ‘Sde Teiman concentration camp.’ Israel was accused of deliberate rape, and it can be seen that the number of people exposed to the messages and discourse was unprecedented.”
Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Chair MK Rothman said at the conclusion of the debate, “The Attorney General and the police won’t cause us to forget who was responsible for the incident. Just as for a long time there was an unlawful Shin Bet director who failed in his post on October 7 and remained in office thanks to the protection of the High Court of Justice, the Attorney General was dismissed by the Government, and the only reason she is continuing in her post and is continuing to obstruct an investigation, is among other things due to a ruling by [Supreme Court] Justice [Noam] Sohlberg, who has now given her another 36 hours to continue to obstruct, and also signed a ruling for her to remain in her post. I call upon the High Court of Justice justices to leave [the affair] alone, since until now their involvement has only harmed the ability to conduct an investigation, safeguard the rule of law and increase the public’s confidence.”
MK Rothman said that the director of the High Court of Justice Department [at the State Attorney’s Office] would also be summoned to the committee meeting, in light of what was said in the debate. He added that the bill for splitting the post of the Attorney General would be discussed [by the Constitution Committee] on Monday, saying, “I didn’t want to pass this in a quick legislative process, but we will advance with it according to the needs of the hour. It’s unacceptable for one person to be holding all the threads.”
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