Israel’s Civil Service Commissioner, Daniel Hershkowitz has called for action to be taken against Deputy Attorney General, Dina Zilber (pictured) for her controversial criticisms of Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ms Zilber lambasted the Government and Mr Netanyahu, likening the Prime Minister’s attacks on the judiciary and other opponents to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious fabricated anti-Semitic text from 1903 purporting to describe a Jewish cabal plotting global domination.
In a lengthy speech broadcast during an online conference by the Israel Democracy Institute, Ms Zilber railed against repeated claims by Mr Netanyahu and his allies that his indictment on graft charges is part of a “judicial coup”.
Mr Hershkowitz said he viewed Ms Zilber’s comments “with severity” and urged Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit to take action against her.
He noted that Ms Zilber had previously been reprimanded for similar conduct and asked Mr Mandelblit to deal with the matter “in accordance with its severity and past events”.
Mr Mandelblit reportedly summoned Ms Zilber for a meeting on the issue, and issued a statement saying he would hear her response before deciding anything further.
Ms Zilber herself has been the subject of many attacks in recent years by Netanyahu allies who slammed decisions by her that they described as leftist.
However, in September Mr Netanyahu quietly extended her term by three months, angering members of the Yamina Party, which is to the right of the Prime Minister’s Likud Party.
Ms Zilber’s term is currently scheduled to run to the end of December.
Mr Netanyahu is charged with corruption in three cases.
He denies any wrongdoing and has derided the cases as a politically motivated witch-hunt by police, prosecutors, the media, the left, and the courts — though he has not provided proof of those claims.
Critics of the Prime Minister say his attacks on the law enforcement system and on weekly protests against him, coupled with the destabilising effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, are major causes for a deeply polarising atmosphere that has settled over Israel, and fear violence could follow.
Jerusalem, 20 November 2020
