Netanyahu selects attorney Roi Kahlon as acting civil service commissioner
PM announces his pick amid a clash with the attorney general that has prevented a permanent selection
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Wednesday that he wishes to appoint attorney Roi Kahlon as acting civil service commissioner to replace Daniel Hershkowitz, whose tenure ended earlier this month, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
The announcement came after the government approved a measure last August allowing the prime minister to directly nominate the next commissioner rather than use a search committee.
The measure was opposed by Baharav-Miara, who argued that the plan is illegal and “creates a new situation whereby the prime minister will be able to choose a person he wishes to be appointed to the position who does not have to meet minimum professional threshold conditions of experience, skills or suitability.”
Amid the ongoing legal battle over the issue, the High Court of Justice froze the process for appointing a new permanent civil service commissioner, leaving the government to appoint a temporary placeholder commissioner instead.
In a statement regarding the decision, the Prime Minister’s Office wrote that Kahlon has “extensive experience in the field of senior management, with impressive achievements in civil service.”
“I am convinced that attorney Kahlon is the most suitable appointment at this time for the position of acting civil service commissioner — and I wish him success in the position,” Netanyahu said in the statement.

According to the statement, Kahlon began his public service with a 15-year stint at the State Attorney’s Office. During that time, he served for six years as an attorney for the attorney general and was also the supervisor for discipline in the Civil Service Commission. He also spent four years as head of the economic crime team.
Last year, he was appointed as head of the team at the Prime Minister’s Office combating an epidemic of violent crime in the Arab community.
The hardline government has repeatedly clashed with Baharav-Miara since its inception in December 2022, and a growing number of coalition lawmakers and cabinet ministers have called for firing the attorney general due to their frustration with her refusal to defend various controversial measures the government seeks to advance, which she has determined would be unlawful.
On Tuesday, Haaretz and the Kan public broadcaster reported that Baharav-Miara would be summoned to a hearing before the full cabinet in the near future to defend her record.
According to the reports, the hearing, which will not be part of an official impeachment proceeding, will be followed by a nonbinding vote of no-confidence and a declaration that Baharav-Miara has lost the government’s trust.