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A state of affairs in which the State of Israel will be left without such ministers, including without an incumbent justice minister, for an unknown period that may be prolonged, is a very unusual and politically serious situation. In the meantime, many powers conferred on the Minister of Justice, including important and significant powers, will be left without anyone who can exercise them, “the spokesman stated in a letter to the Prime Minister and Minister Ganz – who has been acting Minister of Justice since the retirement of Avi Nissenkorn.
Earlier this month, Mandelblit warned that the offices of acting ministers were about to expire in many offices, and called for permanent appointments. Since then, Gantz’s term as Deputy Minister of Communications has ended, and tomorrow the term of office of Yuval Steinitz as Deputy Minister of Water Resources, and of Yoav Galant as Minister of Higher and Complementary Education, will expire. On April 8, Itzik Shmuli’s term as Minister of Social Equality will end, and on April 12, the term of office of Chili Trooper as Minister of Science and Technology will expire.
Mandelblit also wrote today: “In order to avoid the serious harm to significant and vital public interests, I will again request that you act as soon as possible to promote all the aforementioned ministerial appointments, including and even more so, for the appointment of the Minister of Justice.” “The current situation in which the Ministry of Justice is left without an incumbent minister will cause serious damage to the ministry’s work and the functioning of the government, for all that this entails.
Following Mandelblit’s letter, Ganz turned to the Prime Minister’s Office and demanded that the issue of the appointment of the Minister of Justice be raised at a cabinet meeting scheduled for Monday, whose agenda has not yet been set. Gantz wrote: “The non-appointment of a permanent justice minister will also have consequences for the management of the transitional government. I will do everything in my power to prevent Netanyahu, who is affected by foreign considerations, from harming Israeli citizens.”
Avichai Mandelblit Photo: Uriel Cohen