High Court warns Likud ministers to reverse firing of Israel Post chairman

The High Court of Justice warned on Thursday that Likud cabinet ministers Shlomo Karhi and David Amsalem should reverse their decision to fire Israel Postal Company Chairman Mishael Vaknin, and said that if the two refused to row back his dismissal the court would order them to do so in a final ruling.

During the course of Thursday’s hearing, Justices Isaac Amit, Chaled Kabub and David Mintz expressed skepticism over the reasons for Vaknin’s dismissal, with Kabub heavily implying that it was a political decision and not one based on professional considerations.

In September, the High Court froze Karhi and Amsalem’s decision in July to fire Vaknin, with Amit calling into question Vaknin’s rapid dismissal by Karhi and Amsalem, which the justice strongly implied was unwarranted and unjustifiable under the terms of employment for heads of government companies, such as the Israel Postal Company.

Communications Minister Karhi and Regional Cooperation Minister Amsalem, who along with his ministerial duties has responsibility for government companies, have joint authority in appointing the head of the Israel Postal Service.

Attorney Ephraim Damri, who was representing Karhi and Amsalem, argued in court on Thursday that the position of the head of the Israel Postal Company was a political appointment, and contended that ministers needed to be able to appoint their own people to positions under their authority.

Amit rejected this assertion however, insisting that the chairman of the Israel Postal Company was not a political appointee and pointing out that the organization is a government company, while Kabub asserted that the owner of such companies is the general public and that the ministers are not entitled to treat it as their own.

Attorney Hallel Black, also representing the two ministers, argued that Amsalem and Karhi were entitled to remove Vaknin from office if he was not doing his job properly.

But Kabub objected to this line of argument too and expressed heavy doubt as to whether the proper procedures had been followed in dismissing Vaknin.

“The law for government companies has existed for 50 years, ministers have appointed directors, and never has one been fired. When you look at the sequence of events, the suspicion arises that the ministers removed a chairman who was appointed by the previous minister, without a strong basis [for doing so],” Kabub said, according to a Ynet report.

In the September hearing, Amit had also rejected the assertion by the ministers’ lawyers that Vaknin’s management of the Israel Postal Company had been so poor as to justify his removal.

“What are we talking about? About someone who was in the job for just one year. If you use this authority either something catastrophic has had to happen or someone destroyed the postal company. That’s not the case,” Amit said at the time.

In August, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara decided that she would not support the position of Karhi and Amsalem, and filed a submission to the court that the basis of the decision to dismiss Vaknin had been significantly flawed.

She also stated that the dismissal procedure itself had been highly problematic since the Government Companies Authority must be consulted before such an action is taken, which the ministers failed to do.

Justice David Mintz made the same objection to Vaknin’s removal during Thursday’s hearing.

Vaknin’s removal in July as chair of the Israel Postal Company drew intense criticism from then-Government Companies Authority director Michal Rosenbaum, and was also opposed by some in the Justice Ministry.

Rosenbaum and the Postal Company — which is in the process of a privatization effort — have contended that Vaknin’s dismissal was politically motivated, in order to allow Karhi and Amsalem to appoint loyalists to the service’s board of directors.

Rosenbaum herself resigned her position this past Saturday night, accusing Amsalem of using his authority to appoint cronies to senior positions in government companies.

Rosenbaum wrote in her resignation letter that Amsalem believes “the government companies are not a public resource but a ‘pool of jobs’ that he should use to accumulate power and political status.”

As a result, she continued, “Amsalem put enormous pressure on me and the Authority to support the appointment of political activists and [his] associates to key positions in government companies.”

The Government Companies Authority has traditionally been part of the Finance Ministry, but when joining the cabinet, Amsalem insisted that it operate under his control as part of his agreement with Netanyahu.

Though it has little to do with his other responsibilities, oversight of the authority offers Amsalem direct influence on appointments to hundreds of top governmental jobs.