Slippery Slope

The NGOs Adam, Teva v’Din and the Movement for the Quality of Government appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (HaLikud-Beitenu), requesting that he prevent the appointment of Hezi Tzaig, a former Likud activist, to the position of chairman of the plenum of the Nature and Parks Authority. According to the organizations, the appointment was made with improper procedure by outgoing Minister for Environmental Protection, Gilad Erdan (HaLikud-Beitenu), in the last days of the sitting government, and there is a fear it might be politically motivated.

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

During his tenure as Minister of Agriculture, Yisrael Katz (Likud) founded the Plant Board and used it as a tool for political appointments. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

The Israel Broadcast Authority (IBA) employed attorney Yehuda Raveh, who is associated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, without issuing a tender and without asking for an exemption from holding a tender from the Finance Ministry.

(Hebrew)

An associate of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Shas party, sent a document to the State Comptroller, Micha Lindenstrauss, which alleges that the Rabbi is responsible for a number of political appointments in borderline criminal ways.  The documents states that “Religious Affairs Minister Yaakov Margi [Shas] was appointed to his position in order to promote the selection of Rabbi Yosef’s family members and associates of the Shas leadership to top ranking positions in the Rabbinate in Israel.  The man behind the appointments is Rabbi Moshe Yosef, son of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and a powerful player in Shas.  He also heads the private ‘Beit Yaakov’ Orthodox court (“Badatz”) which makes millions in the kashrut industry.  These appointments were meant to promote Badatz in large cities.”