Deputy Central District Attorney Orli Ben-Ari, Justice Minister Amir Ohana's choice to replace State Attorney Shai Nitzan, has given up the position after Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit opposed the appointment, as well as the High Court of Justice's decision to freeze the appointment, Channel 12 reported.
Ben-Ari's associates said that she called Ohana on Friday and told him she understood that she had, unintentionally, been involved in a struggle between bigger forces, and decided to be the "responsible adult" and remove herself from the conflict.
"The attempt to make my choice a political matter and present it as part of a move designed to undermine the rule of law, or the independence of the State Attorney's Office, is unfortunate and contradicts my conduct and values," Ben-Ari wrote in a letter. "The atmosphere created threatens to damage public confidence in the prosecutor's office and to erode it even further. I am not prepared to cause further harm to the justice system, as long as I can prevent it."
"Despite the privilege of leading the State Attorney's Office during this sensitive period, I consider it appropriate to favor the public good and the public interest over my personal aspirations," she wrote.
"Therefore, I retract my decision to agree to head the prosecutor's office, which is so dear to me. I will continue, as I have so far, to contribute to the system as much as I can in any role assigned to me.
"I thank the Justice Minister for the trust he has given me, [and] I thank all the attorneys and many other parties who hoped that I would navigate the ship – but at this time, the system and public trust are more important to me," Ben-Ari concluded.
Earlier on Friday, Ohana sent a letter to Mandelblit reaffirming that the appointment of Ben-Ari as the new state attorney to replace Shai Nitzan was a done deal, in spite of the High Court's decision to freeze the appointment, which occurred minutes before she was due to be sworn in.