Smotrich's Push to Appoint Ally as ILA Chief Faces Legal Hurdles
The Attorney General opposes resuming the ILA director general appointment process for Bezalel Smotrich's associate, Yehuda Eliah, citing severe conflicts of interest and election-period restrictions.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's conflict of interest in attempting to appoint his close associate, Yehuda Eliah, as Director General of the Israel Land Authority (ILA) is a primary reason for the Attorney General's opposition to renewing the appointment process. According to her position, the legal difficulty of allowing the appointment is significantly exacerbated during an election period. This stance appears in documents submitted by the government to the Supreme Court, petitioning the court through private counsel to bypass the Attorney General and allow the appointment process to proceed prior to the elections.
The legal opinion was drafted by Efrat Porketchia, Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Construction and Housing, in coordination with Dr. Gil Limon, Deputy Attorney General. The opinion was issued as the government seeks to resume the work of the search committee tasked with recommending a candidate for the ILA director general position. One of the top three leading candidates is Yehuda Eliah, Smotrich's close associate and the current acting director general. A search committee is expected to evaluate candidates based on professional criteria while neutralizing the political interests of the appointing ministers. However, Smotrich is set to appoint at least one of the four committee members.
In her assessment, Porketchia writes that "the difficulty stemming from the close ties between the Minister of Finance and candidate Yehuda Eliah necessitates examining whether a concern of conflict of interest arises due to the minister's involvement in determining the committee's composition." The Director General of the ILA is jointly appointed by the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Construction and Housing, and the Prime Minister. Initially, a five-member search committee interviewed candidates and recommended Eliah following a two-month process. Following the recommendation, the ministers appointed him in May, but on July 15, the Supreme Court disqualified the appointment and ordered the establishment of a new search committee.
Eliah's appointment was voided due to concerns regarding conflicts of interest involving not only Smotrich but also two committee members: Mehran Prozner, head of the Budget Department at the Ministry of Finance, who faced a conflict of interest because Eliah had been involved in Prozner's appointment process just two months prior; and Professor Idit Solberg, who allegedly faced a conflict of interest as her husband's private company, where she serves as chair, provides government services, including a 10 million shekel contract with the Ministry of Construction in 2025. In its ruling, the Supreme Court determined that a high-level personal connection exists between Eliah and Smotrich, noting they have been friends, relatives, and political partners for over 27 years—facts confirmed by both during the legal proceedings.
The court ruled that Prozner and Solberg would be replaced, and the newly constituted search committee would re-interview the top three candidates, including Eliah. The committee retains the discretion to interview additional candidates. The government is now seeking to resume the search committee's work immediately, proposing Professor Edna Gental from the Architecture Department at Ariel University and Avi Meir, Director General of the Ministry of Negev, Galilee and National Resilience, as replacements for the two conflicted members. The central issue, however, is that the government ministers ignored the impending elections.
On July 17, two days after the court ruling, the Knesset entered recess ahead of elections, prompting the Attorney General to inform the government that senior appointments are restricted from that moment onward. This restriction applies during every election period to prevent appointments based on political rather than professional considerations. Porketchia explains in her letter that appointing senior officials via a search committee during an election period is permissible only in exceptional cases: when the position is strictly professional and unaffected by ministerial policy, if the search committee submitted its recommendation before the election period, or if no other reasonable alternative exists.
In the case of the ILA, none of these conditions are met. Eliah was appointed acting director general immediately after his permanent appointment was voided, and he can continue serving in an acting capacity until after the elections. Furthermore, the ILA is influenced by political decisions; it is subordinate to the Housing Minister, and its policy is determined by a council chaired by the Housing Minister, which includes representatives from the Ministry of Finance and other government bodies. Additionally, Smotrich's push to appoint two members of the search committee during an election period deepens the legal complications.
The conflict of interest surrounding Smotrich is severe due to his close relationship with Eliah, meaning he seeks to appoint committee members who will interview his close associate during an election cycle. Porketchia further emphasizes that, in any case, the search committee is barred from interviewing Eliah during the election period due to his deep ties to the Finance Minister. Consequently, even if the Supreme Court were to unexpectedly permit the convening of the search committee, it remains doubtful whether it could legally interview Eliah.
