AG objects to Netanyahu plan to directly nominate next civil service commissioner
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"
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara voices strong objections to the government’s plan to allow the prime minister to directly nominate the next civil service commissioner rather than using a search committee.
In a statement ahead of a scheduled cabinet vote on the matter, Baharav-Miara declares 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.”
“An open competitive procedure must be established for the selection of the civil service commissioner to allow qualified candidates to compete for the position,” she states.
Despite Baharav-Miara’s objections, the government is expected to approve a new procedure for appointing the civil service commissioner today, allowing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to nominate a candidate who will then be examined by the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee to the Civil Service.
Baharav-Miara has recently insisted 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 and was recently rejected by the government.
In a tweet, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant indicates that he will support Netanyahu’s proposal, writing that such a procedure “is a key tool that allows the government to implement its policies in accordance with the voters’ will.”
In response, former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz asserts that “there has never been a government that has dealt with patronage, flights and coalition funds during wartime like this government.”
