High Court cancels Land Authority head's appointment due to connection to Smotrich

The High Court of Justice canceled Yehuda Eliyahu's appointment as head of the Israel Land Authority on Wednesday, setting aside both the government's decision to appoint him and the search committee's recommendation that preceded it.

The Israel Land Authority is the state body responsible for managing most of the land in Israel. Its responsibilities include allocating and marketing land for housing, employment, public needs, and other uses, as well as advancing planning and administering land rights.

The court stressed the undisputed high degree of connection between Eliyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, one of the ministers behind his appointment.

Under established case law, the judges said, a candidate with such a connection must demonstrate special qualifications that give him a substantial relevant advantage over candidates without a similar affiliation.

Selection process did not establish exceptional qualifications

The petitions did not center on whether Eliyahu was qualified for the position in general, but on whether the selection process had properly established that he possessed the exceptional qualifications required to overcome that connection.

During the hearing last week, the judges questioned whether Eliyahu's scores showed a sufficiently clear advantage over the other finalists and why he alone had been allowed to provide additional information about his qualifications after the committee initially considered recommending three candidates.

The government approved Eliyahu's appointment on May 4, following the search committee's recommendation on April 23. The appointment was approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Smotrich, and Housing and Construction Minister Haim Katz.

Search committee to be reconvened to evaluate candidates

Under Wednesday's judgment, two members of the five-person search committee - Finance Ministry Budget Commissioner Maharan Frozenfar and Prof. Idit Sohlberg - will be replaced. The court stressed that the decision to replace them should not be understood as criticism of either member.

The reconstituted committee will interview Eliyahu and the two other candidates who received the highest overall scores. It may request any documents or information required to evaluate them, provided that it maintains complete equality between the candidates.

The committee may also invite additional candidates for interviews before submitting a new recommendation to the appointing ministers.

Eliyahu is not disqualified from competing for the permanent position again. What has been canceled is his appointment and the process that produced it.

An acting director will be appointed under the applicable Civil Service rules until the renewed process is completed. The ruling also does not bar Eliyahu from being considered for that temporary appointment.

His current tenure as head of the authority will formally end on July 22, even if an acting director has not been appointed by then.