In yet another temporary government appointment, Minister of Finance Yisrael Katz has appointed Yaakov (Kobi) Blitstein, head of the national infrastructures department at the Ministry of Finance, as acting director general of the ministry. The temporary appointment follows the ruling by the Civil Service Commission that at this time a permanent director general cannot be appointed from outside the ranks of the civil service. Blitstein will fill the director general role in addition to his current job in the ministry.
The appointment was made after Accountant General Yali Rothenberg refused the position. The possibility of Rothenberg's appointment arose after Civil Service Commissioner Daniel Hershkowitz announced that he would not allow Katz to appoint Oded Shamir as director general of the ministry because of the proximity to the forthcoming election.
Katz also examined the possibility of appointing Israel Tax Authority director Eran Yaacov, who has been acting director general since Keren Terner-Eyal resigned from the post, but Yaacov eventually told Katz that he had decided that he could not devote the required time to the director general role in addition to his current position.
Blitstein has served as deputy general of the Ministry of Transport, and was also in the past a lawyer in private practice. He is a colonel in the IDF reserves, and served in the IDF for 25 years in various staff positions in the Teleprocessing Corps. He holds a combined first degree in economics, political science, and sociology from Bar-Ilan University, a first degree in law from Ono Academic College in Kiryat Ono, and a second degree in business administration from Tel Aviv University.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 26, 2021
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021