Supreme Court Justice Yechiel Kasher revealed today (Monday) in a decision he gave in a petition against the appointment of Esti Schreiber as director general of the Israel Antiquities Authority that a person who identified himself as Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu contacted him directly - and asked him not to reject Schreiber's candidacy for the position.
In his decision, the judge wrote that the appeal was not made in the usual manner. "Needless to say, an appeal in the manner described above is not the proper way to submit a position to the court, and therefore I intend to ignore it.".
Despite the appeal, Kasher rejected the petitioners' request to issue a temporary injunction to halt the appointment process. The petition was filed by 66 archaeologists, including senior figures in the field, and the judge ordered the state to submit its response within 45 days.
The WhatsApp message sent to the judge read: "Hello, Your Honor, I am in New York and I saw that Your Honor received a petition for a temporary injunction or interim order regarding the appointment of the Director General of the Israel Antiquities Authority. It is clear to me that Your Honor is not relying on outside publications regarding the candidate's qualifications. We would not bring someone to the position who does not meet the standards. After all, that is what the Dotan Committee is for, which is entrusted with reviewing our appointment.".
The statement also read: "It seems that Man Dhu chose to shed her blood, without knowing the details. I would be very happy for the details to be examined and clarified in order to correct the injustice done to her. On the other hand, stopping the appointment process at this time means harming our ability to correct even slightly the government corporations as the law imposes on us.".
""Therefore, since the system itself has appointed a committee to review our process, I would ask His Honor to assist us in our rights and obligations to implement the policy for which we were elected. With great appreciation, Amichai Eliyahu, Minister of Heritage.".
At the same time, the Israel Antiquities Authority Council was supposed to meet today to discuss the appointment, but the chairman of the council, Prof. Yehoshua Schwartz, decided to postpone the discussion.
According to his statement, all the documents and answers required to make a decision on the matter have not yet been received.
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