AG: Netanyahu’s nomination of acting civil service chief ‘unreasonable in the extreme’
In latest rebuke of government moves, Baharav-Miara’s office says Roi Kahlon doesn’t have qualifications for high-powered role, creating legal impediment to making the appointment

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday that his pick for acting civil service commissioner did not meet the criteria for the position and that as a result there was a legal impediment to making the appointment.
It was the latest in a series of positions taken by the attorney general against the current government, arousing the ire of much of the cabinet, and prompting efforts by government ministers to oust her.
The development came less than two weeks after Netanyahu told Baharav-Miara that he wished to appoint attorney Roi Kahlon as acting civil service commissioner to replace Daniel Hershkowitz, whose tenure ended earlier this month.
In August, the government approved a measure allowing the prime minister to directly nominate the next commissioner, rather than use a search committee.
The measure was opposed by Baharav-Miara, who argued that the plan was illegal and “creates a new situation whereby the prime minister will be able to choose a person he wishes to be appointed to the position who does not have to meet minimum professional threshold conditions of experience, skills or suitability.”
Given the ongoing legal battle over the issue, the High Court of Justice froze the process for appointing a new permanent civil service commissioner, leaving the government to appoint a temporary placeholder commissioner instead.
In a statement announcing Kahlon’s nomination earlier this month, the Prime Minister’s Office wrote that the attorney has “extensive experience in the field of senior management, with impressive achievements in civil service.” The commissioner is responsible for tens of thousands of civil servants.
“I am convinced that attorney Kahlon is the most suitable appointment at this time for the position of acting civil service commissioner — and I wish him success in the position,” Netanyahu said in the statement.
But in a position paper written by Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon on behalf of Baharav-Miara and published Monday, Netanyahu was told that Kahlon does not have adequate management experience, and that his appointment is therefore “unreasonable in the extreme,” a standard by which the High Court of Justice could reverse administrative decisions should the issue reach the court.
“He does not meet the qualification conditions,” wrote Limon, adding that “his appointment to the position would not comply with the necessary professional standards for the position.”
In particular, Limon contended that Kahlon does not have senior management experience of sufficient duration to qualify him for the job. He also noted that Kahlon claimed in his resumé to have far greater management experience than he actually has.
Limon nevertheless said that his position “should not detract from the importance of his [Kahlon’s] role in the State Attorney’s Office and the civil service.”
The deputy attorney general ended his position paper by asserting that Netanyahu was required to give “significant weight” to the attorney general’s position when making the appointment, and said that since there was a “substantive gap” between the requirements for the job of civil service commissioner and Kahlon’s experience, “this appointment would be unreasonable in the extreme,” and that “for these reasons, there is a legal impediment to carrying out this appointment.”
According to Netanyahu’s office, Kahlon began his public service with a 15-year stint at the State Attorney’s Office. During that time, he served for six years as an attorney for the attorney general and was also the supervisor for discipline in the Civil Service Commission. He also spent four years as head of the economic crime team.
Last year, he was appointed as head of the team at the Prime Minister’s Office combating an epidemic of violent crime in the Arab community.
The hardline government has repeatedly clashed with Baharav-Miara since its inception in December 2022, and a growing number of coalition lawmakers and cabinet ministers have called for firing the attorney general due to their frustration with her refusal to defend various controversial measures the government seeks to advance that she had determined would be unlawful.