Central Elections Committee director said negotiating over early departure from role

Orly Ades, director-general of the Central Elections Commission, is negotiating over the terms of an early departure from her office, Ynet reports.

According to the news site, Supreme Court Judge Noam Sohlberg, who serves as the chairman of the commission, is looking to shorten Ades’s term, such that she will remain in office until about a year after the coming elections, scheduled for October 2026.

Sohlberg is looking to reduce the director-general’s role on the commission, by appointing a new figure who would take on some of Ades’s responsibilities regarding personnel appointments, Ynet says.

It also reports Sohlberg is looking into the possibility of limiting the director-general role, in general, to 10-year terms.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid responds on X to the Ynet report, writing: “The report about efforts to weaken and harm the independence of the Central Elections Commission director-general and to lead to her retirement are bothersome. The commission is the last bastion defending the purity of  elections and the trustworthiness of their results.”

“The director-general must remain in her position until the end of the coming elections. Sohlberg must promise that it will be so, and not collaborate with any efforts by the coalition to lead to her dismissal,” he adds.