The immediate reason for our call is the affair of Cmdr. Moshe Mizrahi, the head of the Police Investigations Division, suspected of deeds concerning which the Attorney General said that he "couldn’t believe [his] eyes." According to news reports, the police, with the backing of the State Attorney's office, designated suspects -- including Prime Minister Sharon and Ministers Lieberman and Olmert -- and then wiretapped them and transcribed their conversations. The transcriptions included matters that were well beyond the subjects of the court-issued warrants, and these transcripts were kept in Mizrahi's safe. While the Attorney General exclaimed his astonishment, Ms. Arbel issued her own statement in which she attacked his position and rose to Mizrahi's defense.
This affair joins others in the distant and not-so-distant past. Notable among these is Ms. Arbel's performance in the affair of Leora Glatt-Berkowitz, State Attorney in the Central District, who attempted (by her admission) to influence the election of 2003 by leaking information to the press about the Kern-Sharon investigation. Here one may question the propriety of appointing to this sensitive case an attorney whose political views were so strongly held. One wonders whether the State Attorney's office is being run under the influence of political bias. How were MK Yitzhak Herzog and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak allowed to maintain silence in the affair of the corrupt "charities" of the Labor Party, and there was no mention of wiretaps and transcripts? And where are the wiretaps and transcripts in the affair of MK Zehava Galon, similarly keeping silent? Why are the subjects of transcription almost always those who stand on the Right?
And back to Mizrahi. Does keeping transcripts in the safe prevent leaks? Is Mizrahi the only one with the combination to the safe? May we not presume that there are already copies of these transcripts making their way to the press, perhaps already in their hands, awaiting a sensitive moment for publication? Why does such obviously illegal and irresponsible behavior merit the full support and patronage of the State Attorney? Is it conceivable that he who collects such explosive material, and she who so fervently defends him, are NOT politically motivated?
And the biggest question of all: Will it not strike a fatal blow to the public's faith in the legal system, if Ms. Arbel takes a seat on the High Court?
Dr. Ron Breiman, Chairman of PSI
Tel: 050-518 940