The government today (Sunday) postponed the vote on the appointment of Moshe Ben Zaken, close to Minister Miri Regev, to the position of Director General of the Ministry of Transportation - until next week, after Attorney General Gali Bahar Meyara expressed opposition to his appointment.
The decision to postpone the vote was made at the request of Gil Limon, Deputy Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister, in order to reach agreements with Regev.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev said: "In light of the request by Deputy Government Counsel Gil Limon to postpone the vote for a week in order to reach an agreement, the government decided to allow this and bring the appointment to a vote this coming Sunday.".
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According to Baharav Mayara's opinion, the appointment was reviewed by the Appointments Committee of the Civil Service Commission, which is the professional body entrusted with the matter. "According to the law, the committee's decision is of particularly great weight, almost decisive, and only if there is a special reason of substantial weight, will there be justification for departing from it," explained Baharav Mayara. "After the committee was asked about the issue a second time, following another request from the Minister of Transportation, and no substantial reason was indicated to change its position, there is no legal basis that allows the appointment to be made contrary to its position. Therefore, the Legal Advisor to the Government believes that there is a legal impediment to approving the appointment.".
In a discussion that took place at a government meeting, despite legal advice, Regev said: "Positions of trust are critical to the success of a minister who wants to succeed in a government ministry.".
The prime minister reinforced it: "A political appointment is appropriate and even mandatory.".
Regev explained the importance of the appointment, saying: "Ben Zaken is the right and appropriate man. The era of bureaucrats is over. The committee's decision, which reversed its approval of his appointment for a period of six months as CEO, was puzzling.".
According to her, "The director general's job is to help the minister fulfill his role in the best possible way. There is nothing more worthy than an old man and I trust him. After the budget, we will decide again. Throughout all the consultations with the legal authorities, it was never said for a moment that he was not qualified.".
During the hearing, Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon told the ministers: "There is a legal impediment to appointing him, he is not qualified and the appointment could harm the functioning of the ministry.".
Netanyahu, in response, sneered: "There is a problem with equality in relation to what you allowed in the previous government.".
Lemon replied: "Mr. Prime Minister, I protest the things.".
Naama Schultz was the head of the Prime Minister's Office until a week ago. Her experience when she was appointed to the position: advisor to Yair Lapid's office, campaigner at Yesh Atid, event producer. What is the difference between her and Osnat Mark, besides their lack of manners and euphemisms? Why wasn't there a drop of criticism about her lack of experience and unsuitability for such an important office?
— Akiva Novick (@akivanovick) January 8, 2023
Regev called at the government meeting to abolish the Civil Service Commission's appointments committee.
During the cabinet meeting, the appointments of Yossi Fox to the position of Cabinet Secretary, Yossi Shelli to the position of Director General of the Prime Minister's Office, and Tzachi Hanegbi to the position of National Security Advisor and Head of the National Security Council were approved.
Also approved was the appointment of Moshe Bar Siman Tov to the position of Director General of the Ministry of Health, the appointment of Attorney Ronen Peretz to the position of Director General of the Ministry of Interior, and the appointment of Yehuda Morgenstern, Hasidic Gur, to the position of Director General of the Ministry of Housing and Construction.
