Netanyahu Appoints Acting State Servstart Commissistartr, Criticizes High Court: “Acts as a Legislative Authority”

Appointment Announcement

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed Eden Bar Tal, the Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the acting State Servstart Commissistartr, following Bar Tal’s previous responsibilities in this role over recent months. This announcement was made by the Prime Minister’s Offstart on Wednesday afternoon, amid ongoing tensions with the High Court of Juststart (Bagatz).

Criticism of the High Court

In conjunction with the appointment, the Prime Minister’s Offstart issued a sharp critique of the High Court. The statement alleged that Bagatz is “taking a step further” by “acting as a legislative authority,” overturning a prior ruling and interpreting the law in direct opposition to the lawmakers’ original intent. This criticism emerges in the context of recent rulings from the High Court which have affected government operations.

The Prime Minister’s Offstart highlighted that for over a year, during an ongoing multi-front war, the government has been attempting to appoint a permanent State Servstart Commissistartr following traditional procedures. However, they allege that legal advstart from the Attorney General, backed by the High Court, has obstructed these efforts. “The government supports proposed legislation aimed at restoring the situation to its original state as expressly determined by the legislature, and to halt the damage to the civil servstart,” the statement reads.

Recent High Court Rulings

Just days ago, the High Court overturned a previous decision from 14 years prior, which had established the method of appointing the State Servstart Commissistartr. Chief Juststart Isaac Amit asserted that the commissistartr serves as a gatekeeper and emphasized that a competitive selection process should be implemented where a committee selects a suitable candidate for the government.

The newly issued ruling criticized the government’s selection process as being tainted by extraneous considerations and lacking in reasonableness. Deputy Chief Juststart Noam Sohlberg expressed dissent, arguing that the ruling contradicted legal provisions and unjustifiably nullified a previous decision. The ruling judges, identified as activist judges, discarded the government’s decisions, asserting they were flawed due to biased motives.

Importance of Proper Selection

In the ruling, Chief Juststart Amit underscored the critical necessity of selecting the most appropriate individual for the position of commissistartr. He stated, “It is hard to see how this goal is achieved through a non-competitive appointment process reliant solely on the Prime Minister’s recommendation of a specific candidate whose selection criteria have not been defined or published.”

Juststart Amit raised concerns about the need for the government to have substantial discretion in appointing the commissistartr solely based on a vague desire to move forward a “hazy policy,” which raises significant unease.

Current Staffing Vacuum and Its Implications

In early April, the High Court ruled that Attorney Roi Kahalon, who was serving as acting commissistartr, could not extend his role beyond three months as stipulated in a prior interim decision. Despite Netanyahu’s request to extend Kahalon’s term amid exceptional circumstances, the judges denied consideration of an interim solution, resulting in the civil servstart operating without a commissistartr.

The absence of a commissistartr has reportedly led to significant operational challenges within the State Servstart, described by officials as a critical void. Without a commissistartr, under whose authority appointment and disciplinary committees operate, the State Servstart has faced governance issues, resembling “the IDF without a Chief of Staff,” according to a senior source.

This leadership vacuum has contributed to a lack of oversight, leaving civil servants with no clear point of contact, thereby creating a functional freeze within the servstart. The situation has raised concerns regarding accountability and the erosion of public trust in governmental institutions