Despite AG’s dissent, cabinet okays plan for PM to choose civil service commissioner
Netanyahu defends plan, says bureaucrats don’t ‘know better than the government’; watchdog warns move ‘threatens the independence and professionalism of the civil service’
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Despite opposition from the attorney general, the government on Sunday approved a measure allowing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to directly nominate the next civil service commissioner, rather than using a search committee.
The unanimous vote came after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara voiced strong objections to the government’s plan, stating that “there is an impediment to advancing the prime minister’s proposal that the civil service commissioner be appointed by him personally and politically, without a professional examination of professional qualifications and suitability.”
Baharav-Miara argued that “an open competitive procedure must be established for the selection of the civil service commissioner to allow qualified candidates to compete for the position.”
Netanyahu will now be authorized to nominate a candidate who will then be examined by the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee to the Civil Service.
In remarks released by the Prime Minister’s Office following the vote, he asserted that the responsibility to choose a civil service commissioner lies with “the nation,” represented by the elected government, and there is no reason to grant civil service professionals a say in the matter.
Addressing concerns that the government would be able to appoint people who are incompetent or unqualified, Netanyahu pointed out that top security positions are already chosen by the government, and suggested that if the public determines the selected candidate is a bad fit, it can just vote in a new government “that can make new appointments.”
“Here, there is no rule by bureaucrats who are above the people, who know better than the government,” he asserted. “If we don’t allow bureaucrats to decide the competence of heads of our security establishment, why must we make an exception for appointments to the civil service, and put it in their hands?”
Current commissioner Daniel Hershkowitz is set to complete his term in October. His appointment was approved by the government in 2018 after a committee, headed by retired judge Hanan Efrati, at the time rejected Netanyahu’s first choice for the job.
Baharav-Miara has argued that the role of civil service commissioner, which involves supervising civil servants, must be approved by a search committee headed by a retired Supreme Court justice, citing a 2018 government decision that was made to ensure the position’s independence. However, the process is not enshrined in legislation.
Her office’s insistence on the matter has drawn harsh criticism from government ministers, with Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi claiming during a cabinet meeting last month that she was trying to “forcefully take over the stronghold that is the Civil Service Commission.”
During that meeting, Netanyahu reportedly argued that the debate related to Israel’s democratic character, and whether the country would have a representative democracy or a system based on the rule of the attorney general.
Current ministers and coalition lawmakers have repeatedly sought to appoint personal associates to senior government positions.
Resigning from her position last December, Government Companies Authority director Michal Rosenbaum claimed that Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem believed that “government companies are not a public resource but a ‘pool of jobs’ that he should use to accumulate power and political status.”
The Movement for Quality Government, a local watchdog, condemned the government’s decision on Sunday, saying it was “a serious violation of the principles of good governance and threatens the independence and professionalism of the civil service.”
“Transferring the power of appointment directly to the prime minister opens a dangerous door to political appointments and governmental corruption while trampling on the rule of law and the values of democracy,” the group said in a statement.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid called on whomever is ultimately selected by Netanyahu as civil service commissioner to decline the appointment, stating that he or she will be fired by the next government “because whoever is not chosen legally will not be able to serve in the position.”
A battle over authority
During the government meeting, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs castigated Baharav-Miara over her objections to the change in appointment procedures as well as recent steps she has taken relating to the conscription of the ultra-Orthodox to the military.
“The well-publicized conflict that has been going on at high intensity this past week between the legal counsel to the government and myself, as the cabinet secretary, expresses a fundamental disagreement between the elected government and the legal counsel to the government,” Fuchs said.
Last week, Baharav-Miara accused Fuchs of issuing an unauthorized legal brief to enable government action after he wrote that the Attorney General’s Office’s intervention over the who and the how of the IDF’s draft of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students was unnecessary in light of what he said was the leeway the High Court gave to the government in its ruling on the matter.
Baharav-Miara also told Netanyahu last week that his government was acting unlawfully when adopting important cabinet decisions, saying he needed to put things “back on track.”
In his comments during Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Fuchs defined his disagreements with the attorney general as “a dispute over the right and duty of the elected government to outline its policy, which is the lifeblood of democracy.”
“Recently, unprecedented attempts have been made by the legal counsel to deprive the government of the authority and responsibility given to it by law to pass resolution proposals, and this is in complete contrast to the balance that existed here in all previous governments,” Fuchs complained.
Fuchs further claimed that, if accepted, Baharav-Miara’s reasoning could even preclude government officials from voicing disagreement with her legal opinions and would, in essence, grant her similar authority to that of the High Court of Justice.
He also questioned the legal basis of Baharav-Miara’s order to Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur to cut daycare subsidies for the children of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who refuse to obey military draft orders.
In a statement, former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz offered support to Baharav-Miara “and all the public servants who carry out their jobs faithfully in the face of cowardly attacks.”
Michael Horovitz and Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.
