High Court: Why No State Commission?
Commentary;
Will all of Olmert’s excuses for forming the Winograd Commission rather than submitting to an independent State Commission fly with the Supreme Court? MB
Excerpts;
The High Court of Justice on Thursday issued a show-cause order and gave the state six days to explain why it had appointed a government committee of examination into the second Lebanese war instead of a state commission of inquiry headed by a Supreme Court justice.
A panel of three judges headed by Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch ordered the state to explain what was the scope of the government committee’s powers to investigate a matter of “general national significance” and whether it was proper for the government to appoint a committee which would have to investigate those who appointed it.
The petition was submitted by watchdog organizations Ometz and the Movement for Quality Government. Ometz lawyer, Michael Corinaldi, told The Jerusalem Post that the court’s decision would bring an end to the activities of the Winograd Committee until the court handed down a final ruling. “A government governed by law is not afraid of a state commission of inquiry,” he added.
Earlier Thursday, Attorney General Menahem Mazuz ordered the dismissal of the secretary of the Winograd Committee due to his previous role as an activist in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Kadima Party.
The decision by Israel’s top law enforcement official to disqualify Menahem Ben-Haim follows mounting public criticism of the war probe and what was seen as an inappropriate political appointment.
In a related story on Thursday;
State Comptroller Meets with Northern IDF Officers
Full Text;
As part of the inquiry into the management of the recent war with Hizbullah terrorists in southern Lebanon, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss met Thursday with IDF officers in the Galilee.
According to the Ynet news service, some 50 employees in the state comptroller’s office are currently involved in carrying out the probe.