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Defense Minister Benny Gantz withheld from two high-ranking ministers in his Blue and White party an agreement he reached with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on high-level appointments that failed to secure a key party demand, according to a report by television on Saturday.
Blue and White denied a report earlier in the week that Gantz agreed to allow the appointment of a new accountant general in the Finance Ministry, which is headed by a lawmaker from Netanyahu’s Likud party, in exchange for appointing a CEO to his office. Deputy Prime Minister.
However, Hebrew media reported on Friday that an agreement had been reached and a copy of the agenda for Sunday’s cabinet meeting showed that a vote would be held to approve the candidates for the two positions.
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The deal will not include the approval of a new director general in the Justice Ministry, a central Blue and White demand that Netanyahu has long blocked, hampering the ministry’s activity.
According to Channel 12 news, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn, Gantz’s senior partners in Blue and White, only found out about the deal when the agenda for the cabinet meeting was released.
Avi Nissenkorn (left) and Gabi Ashkenazi during a meeting of the Blue and White faction in the Knesset on November 25, 2019 (Hadas Parush / Flash90).
The report said Blue and White officials were angry and disappointed by the deal, feeling that Gantz gave in to Netanyahu on the matter. He did not cite a source.
It was also reported that lawmakers were concerned that the deal could be part of a larger deal that would take shape and that would cause Gantz to agree to further delay the approval of a state budget, giving Netanyahu an opportunity to create a crisis over the budget in the future. and triggering elections at a more politically convenient time.
Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel, who is part of Gantz’s Blue and White-led coalition bloc, will resign from taking part in Sunday’s cabinet meeting in protest of the appointments agreement, according to Hebrew media.
Yoaz Hendel (left) and Benny Gantz (right) at the Knesset on May 13, 2019 (Noam Revkin Fenton / Flash90).
Nissenkorn announced his election for CEO months ago, but the Prime Minister’s Office has so far refused to take the matter to a cabinet vote, and Netanyahu issued a de facto freeze on all senior official appointments in Azul-controlled ministries. and white. – especially the Ministry of Justice. Gantz has responded by refusing to allow the cabinet to vote on appointments to ministries led by Likud, such as health and finance.
As part of their coalition agreement, the Likud and Blue and White agreed to postpone whatever high-level nominations they are likely to face. However, in early October, Gantz said it was time to end the “chaos” in government and occupy high-level positions in law enforcement that have long been held by interim measures.
Israel has been without a permanent state prosecutor since December 2019, with the end of Shai Nitzan’s term. Attorney General Mandelblit has served as Acting State Attorney in recent months.
Similarly, the Israel Police have been without a permanent commissioner since December 2018, when Roni Alsheich’s term ended. Alsheich was a key figure in the corruption cases for which Netanyahu is on trial and was therefore criticized by the prime minister and the Likud as one of the figures the prime minister claims was involved in an attempt to coup against him. Motti Cohen has been acting chief of police since Alsheich’s departure and his term has been extended several times.
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit speaks at the 17th Annual Conference of the ‘Besheva’ group in Jerusalem on February 24, 2020 (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90).
On Monday, Mandelblit told the Superior Court of Justice that he believes the state should explain why it has so far not appointed a permanent director general for the Justice Ministry. He said that without a specific justification given for the lack of progress in the process, “he believes that there is no choice” but to summon state representatives to respond.
In response to Monday’s letter from Mandelblit, Blue and White said Gantz had instructed Nissenkorn to “expedite the process of appointing a state attorney and bring it to the government for approval as soon as possible.”
Gantz also asked Likud Minister of Public Security Amir Ohana to appoint a police commissioner immediately.
Reversing a previous decision last month that a committee to appoint a state attorney cannot currently be formed due to bureaucratic difficulties, Civil Service Commissioner Daniel Hershkowitz said that because of its importance, the process of finding someone to fill the key position he would start immediately.
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