The cabinet will discuss on Sunday a proposal to make Minister without portfolio Tzachi Hanegbi responsible for Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) affairs in place of Prime Minister and Minister of Communications Benjamin Netanyahu.
Few problems in approving the proposal are anticipated, following the decision by Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit that Netanyahu's relations with Bezeq controlling shareholder Shaul Elovitz mean that he is unable to make decisions about Elovitz's business, especially Bezeq, because of a conflict of interest.
For all practical purposes, this decision prevents Netanyahu from being Minister of Communications, and it is therefore surprising that he is not giving up this portfolio and giving it to someone else. Giving this authority to Hanegbi in effect makes him acting Minister of Communications, because there is almost no issue or section of the communications market in which Bezeq is not involved.
Hanegbi will therefore be responsible for any decision affecting Bezeq or its subsidiaries, except for matters not related to Bezeq's interests; in practice, this means that he will be Minister of Communications. Hanebgi ill have to work with the Ministry of Communications director general to reach decisions about complicated issues affecting Bezeq.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 7, 2016
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