Sources inform “Globes” that Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to appoint Avigdor Kahalani as chairman of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI).
IAI, Israel’s largest defense concern, has been without a permanent chairman since August 2002. The company’s board of directors reappoints Ori Orr as acting chairman at each monthly meeting.
In April, Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz announced that he would appoint Kahalani, a reserve brigadier general and former minister of public security, to the position, replacing Orr, who has held the post since September 1999.
However, Netanyahu, one of the two ministers who approves the appointment of senior executives at government companies, opposes Kahalani’s appointment. Netanyahu’s candidate for the post is MK Moshe Arens (Likud), a former minister of defense, who had earlier held a number of senior positions at IAI.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed that he had refused to sign Kahalani’s appointment, stating that the Ministries of Finance and Defense had agreed that they would jointly handle executive appointments at government companies.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on July 8, 2003