Spotlight on the News: The Yoetz HaMishpati

It seems like Bibi has never had any luck where the Yoetz HaMishpati is concerned.

During his first shot at PM, he got stuck with a hold over, Michael Ben-Yair. Ben-Yair spent most of his time indicting senior Likud officials and saw no problem being the chief legal advisor to a government that that didn't want him. He refused to leave the job.

When Bibi finally got his chance to replace Ben-Yair, he slid straight into the "Bar-on for Chevron" affair. Perhaps his track record persuaded him to maintain an official aloof position while the current search committee has been wandering in the desert. In the interests of full disclosure, I should point out that Netanyahu did ok appointing Elyakim Rubinstein, but perhaps that was just the law of averages at work.

The Yoetz is a bit of a schizoid position. As the name implies, the Yoetz is the Chief Legal Advisor to the Government of Israel. The holder of the position advises the Government and its members regarding the legality of proposed decisions, effectively drawing the line between legal and illegal action with every opinion offered. The Yoetz also represents the Government and its members as needed. On the other hand, the holder of the position is also charged with the ultimate say regarding who gets charged. The Praklitut recommends, but the Advisor decides.

The conflicts of interest inherent to the position are so very obvious that apparently most people just assume that there must be a really good reason for this hodgepodge of responsibilities - but since they can't figure it out, and it's too embarassing to ask when it's obvious that there really must be a simple answer, they simply move on to the next issue.

True story: Some time during Rubinstein's time as Yoetz, I had a job interview at the Ministry of Justice. No, I didn't get an offer, bit I did learn something interesting while I was there. On the wall of the office where the interview took place was a hierarchical chart outlining the different departments and lines of authority in the Ministry. Each position was color coded by department/function and connected by a solid line to those above and below. The Minister was, as to be expected, at the top of the pyramid, with the Mancal and various department heads filling the next level or two. And way off to the side, with its very own color was the Yoetz, connected by a dotted line to the chain of command somewhat below the Minister.

The conversation during the interview eventually came around to the organizational chart. The interviewer explained to me that yes, it was as I understood it. The Yoetz wasn't really a part of the organization at all; the position held enormous power in the Ministry, but officially nobody was underneath it. And it wasn't hard for me to detect an underlying note of resentment in his voice.

I didn't remember it at the time, but later on when I thought about it, it matched up well with what I was once told by an older lawyer with whom I had a conversation during the Ben-Yair years. I asked him how they'd come up with such a strange position, and he told me a story that I'd never heard before. Apparently, the Minister of Justice in Israel was originally intended to be like the Attorney General of the US, including much of the role of the Yoetz. But Ben Gurion didn't like/trust his pick for Minister of Justice, so he created the Yoeta position to lessen the role of the Minister. I've never heard this story confirmed, but it would explain some things, no?