New Justice Ministry director approved after abrupt firing of predecessor

The Civil Service Commissioner on Monday approved the appointment of Ophir Cohen as director general of the Justice Ministry, two weeks after Minister Amir Ohana abruptly fired Emi Palmor from the position.

Cohen is an associate of Ohana and an advocate for IDF reservists. According to the Calcalist daily, Cohen has no managerial experience in large organizations, particularly not in the public sector.

According to the financial outlet, Civil Service Commissioner Daniel Hershkowitz wrote that he accepted Ohana’s explanation that he could not find a worthy candidate for the role from within the Justice Ministry or the entire civil service.

Palmor’s firing last month came as a shock to many in the judiciary, as there had been no prior warning and no public explanation for the decision.

Ohana later explained the move, saying the accepted practice is for a minister to appoint a director general. However, it is rare for a minister serving in a caretaker government — Ohana is only expected to fill the position for several months — to fire such a senior professional.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel slammed the confirmation, saying it set a dangerous precedent.

“This is a very precarious and dangerous decision by the civil service commissioner, which creates an opening to make far-reaching moves in government ministries during a transitional government, in a way that has never happened in the history of the State of Israel,” the organization said in a statement. “We wonder what steps Ohana took to really find deserving candidates from within the civil service, as the directives require him to.”

The organization concluded by saying it hoped the Supreme Court “will ask the tough questions so that the public will receive the appropriate answers.”

Palmor had previously served under both the right-wing Ayelet Shaked and left-leaning Tzipi Livni.

Ohana, a Benjamin Netanyahu loyalist, was appointed to his position after the prime minister fired Shaked ahead of September’s repeat Knesset elections.

According to Channel 12, the decision ran counter to the attorney general’s legal opinion that ministers in a caretaker government cannot fire ministry directors.

However, the Kan public broadcaster reported that Ohana had been in touch with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit for several weeks regarding his desire to replace Palmor. Mandelblit authorized the move because the director general’s leavimg was to be considered a resignation and not a firing, the report said.

Moreover, the attorney general reasoned that while Ohana is a minister in a transitional government with limited powers, this case is unique given that the caretaker cabinet’s tenure is twice as long as usual due to the Knesset’s decision to dissolve itself for the second time in one year and go to elections.

Other officials in the Justice Ministry were also notified as Ohana put forward several candidates to replace Palmor, whom they rejected due to their incompatibility or lack of experience, the network said.

Ohana is a lawyer by training who became the first openly gay MK in a right-wing party when he was elected to the Knesset in 2015 and is the first LGBT minister in Israel’s history.

Though only in office for months, Ohana quickly courted controversy when he suggested in a TV interview in June that it was not always appropriate to adhere to High Court of Justice rulings — particularly when the ruling could endanger lives. The remark drew widespread criticism, including from Netanyahu.

Ohana waded into the growing speculation over his reasons for firing Palmor, a move that drew criticism from many parties and raised questions about his possible motive.

Some suggested he was attempting to influence the appointment of the next state attorney — any director general he would appoint would have a seat on the appointing committee — in order to ensure that one candidate opposed by Netanyahu, the lead prosecutor in the premier’s corruption investigations, Liat Ben-Ari, isn’t given the job.

Others pointed to Yair Netanyahu’s sharing of a Facebook post that accused Palmor of being a “leftist.”

But Ohana insisted at the time that he alone made the decision.

“The accepted practice is for a minister to appoint a director general. It’s a position of trust — to do otherwise would be the anomaly,” Ohana said in a statement. “This is what governance looks like.”

He added: “In recent weeks, I’ve spoken to Emi Palmor about concluding her term, and she expressed a willingness and agreement to finish. There is no truth to the wild speculations about the decision, which was made by me and me alone.”