Berko, Shalev chosen to select next A-G

The Knesset’s Law Committee elected Likud MK Anat Berko Wednesday night as the Knesset’s representative on the powerful five-member panel that will select a successor to Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein. Berko received seven votes, three more than her closest competitor, Yesh Atid MK Karin Elharar, after Zionist Union MK Tzipi Livni dropped out at the last minute. Weinstein is slated to step down in January and the state’s political power centers have been maneuvering for influence on the committee that will select his successor. The panel will be led by former Supreme Court president Asher D. Grunis, as the representative of the court. There have been rumblings for several weeks that former justice minister Moshe Nissim will be the government’s representative on the panel after an agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked was reached to that effect. Despite multiple indications from Shaked’s office that Nissim would be confirmed two weeks ago or last week, there may be a delay on his appointment. The other two positions are filled by a representative of the Israel Bar Association and a legal scholar representative from academia. The heads of the universities selected the president of the Higher Academic Council at Ono Academic College, former UN ambassador Gabriela Shalev, as academia’s representative on Wednesday. The expected candidates for attorney-general are: cabinet-secretary Avichai Mandelblit, Justice Ministry oversight czar Hila Gristol, deputy attorneysgeneral Dena Zilber, Raz Nizri and Avi Licht, and Defense Ministry legal adviser Ahaz Ben Ari. Four of the five members of the panel must vote for a candidate in order for him to be chosen. • Gil Hoffman and Yonah Jeremy Bob