The saga of MK Avraham Michaeli's appointment as chairman of the Shas faction in the Knesset continues: ifAt first, there was a debate about who decided (the entire faction - unanimously, Chairman Aryeh Deri technically informed Michali of the appointment), then later there were those who tried to present it as if the Knesset Secretariat had contacted number 1 on the list, MK Eli Yishai, with a request that he be the one to appoint the appropriate candidate.
Eli Yishai sent her an email in response, in which he announced that MK Avraham Michaeli had been appointed to the vacant position.
According to Ella, only because Eli Yishai is an ardent supporter of Michaeli did he not try to change Aryeh Deri's decision. But, if, just for the sake of demonstration, the Shas chairman had decided to appoint Meshulam Nahari or any other MK as faction chairman - Eli Yishai could have changed the decision by sending a letter to the Knesset Secretary, Yardena Meller-Horowitz.
And not her.
According to the Knesset Rules of Procedure (Article 9A): "Each faction shall elect a faction chairman... and shall notify their name to the Speaker of the Knesset.".
If we interpret it this way: the authority to choose a faction chairman is vested in the members, with the accepted practice being that the party chairman recommends his candidate and they approve, but theoretically they can disagree. In this case, MK Nissim Ze'ev approached each of the members, formed everyone's consent to Michaeli's appointment - and he was legally approved. The approval must be made by the entire faction, at its meeting, which happened on Monday at the faction meeting, when at its conclusion, around 5:00 PM, there was a legal faction chairman.
If faction secretary Zvika Yakobson had immediately sent an email to the Knesset Secretariat announcing that a chairman had been elected, the saga might have ended there. However, he delayed slightly, not thinking that this would cause a media uproar.
Who is the owner of the house?
Section B states: "As long as the faction has not notified the Knesset Speaker of the name of the faction chairman, the Knesset member who headed the list of candidates for the Knesset will be considered the faction chairman." This is, of course, a temporary appointment, which has no real validity, since only the faction members are authorized to elect a permanent chairman.
This happened, for example, when MK Bozhi Herzog was elected to head the Labor Party instead of MK Shelly Yachimovich. At that moment, he ceased to serve as the faction's chairman, and at the first opportunity the Labor faction convened, he informed his members that he intended to appoint Eitan Cabel as chairman. The members approved, and the appointment was sent to the Knesset Secretariat in a notification.
In a conversation with jurist Yehuda Avidan, who also serves as the representative of the Shas faction on the Elections Committee and is considered knowledgeable in the details of the regulations and laws, he confirms this.
""Eli Yishai served as a liaison here, he had no authority to determine anything regarding the appointment of the chairman," he states firmly.
Avidan also remembers the day Eli Yishai transferred the party's management powers to Aryeh Deri. Initially, Nati Lasri would act as his deputy, and then the powers were legally transferred to Haim Biton. Today, the owners of the party, and those authorized to do anything in it, are Aryeh Deri and Haim Biton.
Regarding the appointment of a faction chairman - the authority lies with the members, although it is politically accepted that the members take into account the opinion of the party chairman, as is the case in parties such as Likud, Habayit Hayehudi, Yisrael Beiteinu, Yesh Atid, and others. According to the norm, when you arrive at a faction meeting, the decision is already final and backed by political consensus or the consent of the members.
Red lines
This also happened last Monday, when the members reached full agreement on Michaeli's appointment.
Avidan: "At the beginning of the term, the Knesset Secretariat asked No. 1 on the list - Eli Yishai - who he should stand up to on technical issues such as arranging for Haredi members and the like, since the faction had not yet officially convened. Eli asked that Michaeli be the contact person.".
""But when Atias became the chairman of the faction, that changed and the authority was taken from Michaeli. Now, from Sunday morning until a notification was sent to the secretariat about Michaeli's appointment - Eli was the contact person.".
""I emphasize - a mere liaison, like a carrier pigeon, and this is a position devoid of any authority, a position that is more similar to the roles of Secretary Zvika Jacobson, certainly not something that resembles in the slightest the role of party chairman, a position given to Aryeh Deri by a decision of the Council of Torah Sages, headed by Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, and also received legal validity in a letter that was signed by Eli Yishai and in which he transferred all authority to Aryeh.".
At the time, by the way, Shas was furious with Eli Yishai for taking the step without consulting the members of the trio.
Avidan: "I'm sorry that there are people close to Eli Yishai who haven't yet internalized that even in Shas there are red lines that cannot be crossed. I've recently seen attempts to break up the faction. They won't succeed like they didn't in the past," says Avidan - who is furious that the email that Eli Yishai hurriedly sent to the Knesset Secretariat, containing the announcement that Michaeli had been appointed - was forwarded to the media by one of his people, before the secretary had time to read the message (it was only read this morning - Thursday), in order to sow division in the party, with the impression that "Eli has determined that the candidate is Michaeli.".
Join the Haredim 10 Facebook page >>
Join the X page of Haredim 10 >>
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
