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Leza L Olson  09/19/2006 01:05:20 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Leza L Olson

Cable 
Text:                                                                      
                                                                           
      
UNCLAS        TEL AVIV 03705

SIPDIS
CXTelA:
    ACTION: POL
    INFO:   IPSC PD IMO RES ECON DCM DAO AMB AID ADM RSO
            CONS

DISSEMINATION: POL
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: AMB:RHJONES
DRAFTED: POL:RBLAUKOPF/PVROOM
CLEARED: DCM:GCRETZ; POL/C:MSIEVERS; POL:SCROWLEY

VZCZCTVI401
RR RUEHC RUEHXK
DE RUEHTV #3705/01 2611034
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181034Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6405
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 003705 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR KJUS IS LE
 
SUBJECT: POWERS OF INQUIRY: THE PROPOSED WINOGRAD COMMITTEE V. A 
STATE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY 
 
REF: A) TEL AVIV 3232; B) TEL AVIV 3370 
 
¶1.  Summary and Introduction:  After several false starts (reftels), 
Prime Minister Olmert proposed and the government approved a 
"Government Review Committee" to "examine the functioning of both 
the political leadership and the security establishment regarding 
the campaign in the north."  The Government Review Committee will be 
chaired by retired Judge Eliyahu Winograd and will include two 
reservist major generals - Menahem Einan and Haim Nadel, as well as 
two academics - law professor Ruth Gavison and professor of public 
administration Yehezkel Dror.  Acting Justice Minister Meir 
Sheetrit, who initially favored a "State Commission of Inquiry," has 
stated publicly that the Winograd Committee will enjoy many of the 
powers of a state commission -- specifically in regard to 
subpoenaing witnesses and taking testimony under oath.  Even with 
such powers, a Government Review Committee is restricted to drafting 
recommendations rather than prosecuting individuals. 
 
¶2.  Summary Continued:  This cable contains our analysis of the 
current principal differences between a "Government Review 
Committee" and a formal "State Commission of Inquiry," and is based 
on a reading of the relevant laws and expert opinion from the Office 
of the Legal Advisor to the Knesset.  Opposition leader Binyamin 
Netanyahu and others -- including demonstrators in downtown Tel Aviv 
-- continue to voice support for a state commission named by the 
Supreme Court President rather the committee named by Olmert, but 
only three ministers in Olmert's cabinet did not vote for the 
Winograd Committee.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Olmert's Proposal: A Government Review Committee 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶3.  The points below pertaining to the Government Review Committee 
are derived from the provisions of the Government Law of 2001 and 
the Law on Committees of Inquiry of 1968. 
 
-- The members of the review committee are appointed by a government 
minister (NB: the PM in this case) and headed by a retired judge 
(NB: in this case Winograd). 
 
-- The mandate of the committee is to be drafted by the appointing 
minister (NB: the PM in this case and it was reported he has asked 
for assistance from the Acting Minister of Justice). 
 
-- At the request of the appointing minister and with government 
approval, the minister of justice may determine that the committee 
may exercise powers similar to those of a State Commission of 
Inquiry in regard to summoning of witnesses and taking testimony 
under oath -- including testimony from the PM. 
 
-- The minister who appoints the committee is obligated by law to 
bring its findings before the government. 
 
----------------------------- 
A State Commission of Inquiry 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4.  The points below pertaining to the State Commission of Inquiry 
are derived from the provisions of the Law on Committees of Inquiry 
of 1968. 
 
-- The head of the Supreme Court (NB: newly named President Dorit 
Beinish) appoints the members (normally a three-person panel) and 
names the chairperson. 
 
-- The mandate is determined by a decision of the government. 
 
-- A State Commission of Inquiry is empowered more extensively than 
a Government Review Committee in regard to subpoenaing of witnesses 
and evidentiary procedures (e.g., it may issue a search warrant to 
obtain evidence -- unlike a Government Review Committee). 
 
-- The State Commission of Inquiry must draft a report on its 
findings and is authorized to add recommendations.  This report must 
be submitted to the government. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
ELEMENTS COMMON TO COMMITTEES AND COMMISSIONS 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  The following aspects are common to both the Government Review 
Committee and the State Commission of Inquiry: 
 
-- The findings, in the form of a report and recommendations 
(including recommendations regarding specific persons if such are 
made) are to be presented to the government. 
 
-- The report is to be published; however, the committee/commission 
is authorized to withhold publication in whole or in part if this 
risks jeopardy to state security, foreign relations, vital economic 
interests, the safety or privacy of an individual or to the method 
of operation of an agency or body which has investigative powers 
under the law. 
-- A state commission is required to provide evidence to any 
individual or the family of any dead individual whose reputation may 
be impugned by its investigation -- a time-consuming, but 
integrity-preserving requirement that is apparently also required of 
review committees as well. 
 
-- The committee/commission is authorized to publish the minutes of 
its hearings in whole or in part.  (NB:  The cabinet communiqu of 
September 17 noted that the minutes of the committee's discussions 
and any other materials will be entrusted to the State Archives.) 
 
-- The findings and recommendations of the committee/commission may 
not be used as evidence in any legal proceeding. 
 
-- The government is not bound to adopt or implement the committee's 
recommendations. 
 
-- In the event that operative recommendations are made by the 
committee and are not acted upon by the government, a suit may be 
filed with the Supreme Court by an individual or organization (such 
as the Movement for Quality Government which organized the 
demonstration in Tel Aviv on September 9 to demand a State 
Commission of Inquiry). 
 
-- If the Supreme Court sees fit, having weighed the matter from a 
legal perspective (not a political or public interest perspective), 
it is empowered to order implementation of the recommendations of 
such a report. 
 
-- Such a directive by the Supreme Court would require compliance on 
the part of the government. 
 
¶6.  Since the mandate of any committee determines in large measure 
its powers and possible findings, it is not yet possible to say how 
far the Winograd Committee falls short of the scope and authority of 
a State Commission of Inquiry - or how far back the committee will 
look into the history of events preceding the most recent Lebanon 
War.  Press reports suggest that it will limit its work to the 
period since Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000.  However, PM 
Olmert's Foreign Policy Advisor Shalom Tourgeman told the Ambassador 
September 14 that the Committee will be allowed to look all the way 
back to the 1996 Grapes of Wrath period. 
JONES