Irregularities are suspected in the appointment of Doron Weiss as chairman of Israel Railways. Israel Railways' director from the Ministry of Transport voted in favor of ousting acting chairman Ori Yogev against the opinion of Israel Railways' legal adviser that she should recuse herself from voting.
According to participants at the board meeting, Weiss told this director that he had met Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz, who told him that his appointment as chairman was a sure thing, even ifYogev would agree to serve in a full-time capacity.
On Monday, Israel Railways' board of directors confirmed Weiss as chairman by in a 5:1 vote, replacing Yogev, who had served as acting chairman on a part-time basis since June 2010. The opposing director, Michal Franco, slammed the propriety of the procedure.
Katz was behind Weiss's appointment, on the grounds that Yogev could not continue in his position because he could not devote the necessary time to the job.
At the start of the board meeting, Israel Railways' legal adviser, Adv. Yaron Zaft, told the directors that any director with a conflict of interest was ineligible to participate in Weiss's appointment. He said that Katz had already expressed his position on the matter, and the Ministry of Transport's two directors therefore faced a possible conflict of interests. In response, one of the two directors, Omer Jaber, decided not to vote.
The Government Companies Authority will investigate whether Weiss's appointment was in order, and has already asked for the minutes of the board meeting. If the Authority approves the procedure, it will send its recommendation for review by the Public Service Appointments Committee, after which it will go to Katz and Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz for their signatures. The Ministry of Finance has already expressed its reservations about Weiss's appointment.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 8, 2012
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