Netanyahu slams AG, insists Kahlon is qualified as acting civil service commissioner

Responding to a High Court petition against the appointment of Roi Kahlon as acting civil service commissioner, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells the court that Kahlon is eminently qualified for the role.

The petition against his appointment “was put forth with no legal basis and no factual basis and was based solely on journalistic headlines,” reads the official response to the court submitted by the Prime Minister’s Office. “There is no defect on any level” to appoint him to the job; rather, “there are serious defects in the work of the attorney general” and therefore “the petition should be dismissed completely.”

Last week, Netanyahu tapped Kahlon for the job despite the opposition of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who said the candidate did not meet the criteria for the position and had claimed in his resumé to have far greater management experience than he actually had.

Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs says in a statement that Kahlon is a “worthy candidate who meets all the requirements of the job and there is no basis whatsoever for this petition and for the standing of the attorney general.” Fuchs says Netanyahu received warm recommendations for Kahlon and that there is “no gap between” his management experience and his resume, “and any other claim on the issue misleads the court and the public.”

The petition to the High Court was filed by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, and a hearing in the case is expected tomorrow.