Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided yesterday to appoint deputy minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) as minister of diaspora affairs, minister Yifat Shasha-Biton (Likud) as minister of labor, social affairs and social services, deputy minister Yitzhak Cohen (Shas) as minister of construction and housing, and MK David Bitan (Likud) as minister of agriculture.
The decision follows petitions to the High Court of Justice claiming that Netanyahu was obliged to resign the ministerial portfolios he held once indictments had been filed against him, in accordance with the legal precedents established in the cases of Aryeh Deri and Raphael Pinhasi, in which the court ruled that ministers who have been indicted must resign, or else be dismissed by the prime minister. As far as the premiership itself is concerned, Israeli law states that a prime minister is not obliged to resign until he has been convicted of a crime and has exhausted all possibilities of appeal. In August this year, Haim Katz resigned as minister of labor, social affairs and social services following the filing of an indictment against him.
Following an investigation, the police have recommended that Bitan should be charged with taking bribes, but no indictment has yet been filed. Netanyahu explained Bitan's appointment as minister of agriculture as the fulfillment of a long-standing promise. If the State Attorney's Office decides to indict Bitan, he will be obliged to resign.
In response to Bitan's appointment, the Blue and White party said in a statement: "A prime minister who has turned into a fugitive from justice has now appointed a person suspected of bribery to be in charge of the price of all our food. The Netanyahu government has become a criminal organization whose only aim is to ensure immunity from prosecution for its leader."
Commenting on the appointment of Cohen as minister of construction and housing, Yisrael Beitenu chairman Avigdor Liberman said, "The appointment of MK Yitzhak Cohen of Shas to the post of minister of construction and housing in a transitional government is nothing less than a political coup aimed at establishing facts on the ground. As though it were not enough that Shas holds the Ministry of the Interior, which gives budgets to haredi towns at the expense of outlying areas of Israel, now the Ministry of Construction and Housing will give undeveloped and agricultural land from regional councils to haredi towns. I call on the heads of the regional councils to be on the alert, and not to hesitate to resort to the courts as necessary. In any event, after the election, Yisrael Beitenu will demand the Ministry of the Interior and will examine all the decisions made during Shas's tenure."
The legal proceedings in the case of David Bitan are still in the initial stages. He has not been convicted of any crime, and is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 6, 2020
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