Regev brushes aside vetting panel’s rejection of ex-aide for ministry job

Transportation Minister Miri Regev plans to push ahead with naming a former aide, Moshe Ben Zaken, as ministry director, despite a state vetting panel ruling out the appointment, the Kan news site reports.

Regev is overheard in the Knesset hallway saying into her phone that “it can’t be that some senior bureaucrats are going to tell a minister who they can appoint as their director,” the religious news site Kipa reports.

The Senior Appointments Advisory Committee cited Ben Zaken’s past as a political operative in turning him down for the job. While the committee’s recommendations are not binding, the government rarely goes against them.

Regev reportedly plans to bring Ben Zaken’s posting for approval to the next government meeting, setting up a potential showdown.