I did my duty, Weinstein says after Lieberman walks

"I am duty-bound to go to trial when there is a reasonable chance for conviction; I performed my duty," Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein said on Wednesday, several hours after MK Avigdor Lieberman was cleared of all charges.

The case against the former foreign minister initially centered on financial crimes and various other counts, but he ultimately stood trial for lesser counts of fraud and breach of trust. According to the watered-down indictment, Lieberman tried to reward former diplomat Ze'ev Ben Aryeh, who had compromised an Israel Police probe into Lieberman's financial dealings abroad. Lieberman allegedly withheld this information from the government even as it confirmed Ben Aryeh's appointment as ambassador to Latvia. Lieberman was unanimously acquitted by the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court, which said that Ben Aryeh's nomination process was not tainted by a grave conflict of interest and hence did not imply any illegality on the part of Lieberman.

The verdict was a crushing blow to Weinstein, who was personally involved in drafting the indictment and pursuing the long investigation into the Lieberman case. Weinstein decided to try the case in December 2012, some 10 years after Lieberman's financial dealings came under scrutiny. Although initially the state prepared a harsh indictment that included counts of money laundering, witness tampering and the acceptance of bribes, Weinstein ultimately dropped most of the charges.

The shock at the State Attorney's Office was apparent on Wednesday. Michal Sabel-Darel, the lead prosecutor in the case, told the media that she and her team would "read the verdict thoroughly and professionally as is customary in the State Attorney's Office and we will then weigh our options."

"The court has handed down its verdict, and of course we respect that," she said.

Prosecutors appeared to be in damage control mode to change the perception that this was a crushing blow. A senior official at the State Attorney's Office told Israel Hayom on Wednesday that "the prosecution did not fail in the Lieberman case."

"We are not just out to get convictions," the official said. "We go ahead with an indictment when there is a reasonable chance for conviction. We don't care if his name is Buzaglo or Lieberman. The court is not the prosecution's rubber stamp; sometimes defendants are acquitted. We wouldn't want to live in a country in which people are convicted immediately after the attorney-general serves an indictment.

"There is the [earlier] case that focused on shell companies and which was ultimately shut by Weinstein because of a lack of evidence, and then there is the actual case that was deliberated in court, which focused on the ambassador affair. The big case drove a wedge between prosecutors and eventually the attorney-general used his prerogative to shut it. But on the ambassador affair, State Attorney Moshe Lador and the prosecutors were of same opinion in light of the quality of the evidentiary material and the chances of success and they were in lockstep that this was in the public's interest. The state attorney's position was embraced by the attorney-general."

The official noted that "the prosecution and the attorney-general did not have any ulterior motives -- they treat each case professionally."

Following the acquittal, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel wrote a letter to the attorney-general, arguing that the conduct of legal officials and the decision to drop some of the charges raised some serious questions. The movement cited its own multiple appeals to the High Court of Justice to expedite the proceedings against Lieberman, saying he had been denied him a speedy trial, causing damage both to the public and to him, and that the acquittal reinforced that notion.

The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, an organization "committed to protecting human rights in Israel, ensuring sound government, and preserving the national integrity of the State of Israel and the Jewish people," issued a statement Wednesday saying that the verdict was a blow to public faith in the attorney-general and in the State Attorney's Office. Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein must resign."

Nachi Eyal, the director of the forum, said that "after 17 years of investigation, the outcome of this trial raises a need for a serious and piercing self-examination of the conduct of the State Attorney's Office over the years. In light of the unanimous acquittal, the decision to indict in the first place seems more than strange. There are severe question marks about the investigation of a senior minister over the years. The attorney-general who led this investigation ought to take responsibility and resign."

Ometz, another government watchdog, said, "Weinstein must resign immediately because of the acquittal. He has shown that he lacked the right judgement when it comes to making decisions that relate to senior public officials. The attorney-general was absolutely confident that Lieberman would be convicted in the case. He failed in convicting the only public figure he had ever prosecuted."

The Movement for Governance and Democracy issued a statement saying that "the protracted legal process that hovered above the political system for over a decade has been a long failure attributable to the prosecution and the attorneys-general. There is no doubt that an ongoing structural problem needs to be addressed when it comes to the legal system's interaction with elected officials."

Deputy Attorney-General for Criminal Law Raz Nizri responded to the criticism, saying, "The attorney-general is a strong man, both mentally and physically. The attorney-general will read the verdict and decide whether an appeal is in order. You must keep in mind that there is only one body that prosecutes in this country; let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. Criticism should be based on facts and must properly delivered."

The Justice Department said, "The State Attorney's Office will continue doing its job diligently as it fights for proper ethical standards in public service."