Israel's Attorney General Accuses Roman Gofman of Lying in Security Investigation

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara filed her position with Israel's Supreme Court Thursday, calling on the court to issue a conditional order requiring a fresh review of the government's decision to appoint Roman Gofman, and urging the justices to strike down the appointment.

In her submission, Baharav-Miara argued that Gofman's conduct in a sensitive security investigation, known as the Elmakayes affair, revealed serious flaws that bear directly on his fitness for the role.

"His failure to disclose what he knew, in the most sensitive context of a criminal security investigation, led to harm to the truth-finding process and serious harm to the rights of Elmakayes," the filing stated.

The attorney general further argued that Gofman was asked whether he had contact, directly or indirectly, with a Telegram channel, and that he withheld the truth, even after the operator of that channel had been arrested.

Baharav-Miara reserved some of her sharpest criticism not for Gofman himself, but for the majority members of the Gronis advisory committee, which reviewed the appointment before it proceeded.

"The majority opinion of the advisory committee is characterized by a tendency whose purpose is to minimize Gofman's role and clear him of responsibility for the fact that Almakais was held in prolonged detention," she wrote.

She added that reading the committee's protocols left a strong impression that some majority members "had made up their minds to approve the appointment no matter what, and as a result ignored data and information that did not support their thesis." She also alleged that some committee members asked leading questions and guided witnesses toward statements that strengthened that position, at times "putting words in the witness's mouth."

The petitions against Gofman's appointment were filed after the government moved to advance it despite widespread public and legal criticism over his role in the security affair.