The High Court of Justice heard three petitions on Wednesday morning against the appointment of Yehuda Eliyahu as head of the Israel Land Authority. The petitioners, the Academic Center for a Free Israel, the Arab Center for Alternative Planning, and the Naamat women’s lobby, argue that the selection process was flawed from the start and should be canceled.
They say the eligibility requirements were lowered sharply, from experience managing 70 employees and a budget of 500 million shekels to managing 30 employees and 40 million shekels. They also claim the appointment is tainted by a conflict of interest because of Eliyahu’s ties to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The judges told the parties that there were difficulties in the appointment process and suggested issuing an order nisi, which would shift the burden to the state to justify the move. The state opposed that step, but it now appears likely to be issued by the end of the hearing.
The state had defended the appointment in its response, but on Wednesday morning Calcalist reported new information about one of the selection committee members, Prof. Idit Solberg, who was appointed by Smotrich and reportedly owns a consulting company that received 10 million shekels from the Housing and Construction Ministry. In light of that report, the state asked to delay the hearing in order to examine the information.
The legal challenge comes as the Israel Land Authority has lacked a permanent director since Yanki Quinet completed his five-year term. Since then, Idan Moualem, head of the Public Transport Authority, has served as acting director while holding both jobs. The authority’s land tenders have slowed markedly, with only 134 tenders published since January, compared with 238 in the same period in 2025, and just 106 tenders closed this year, many from earlier activity. In Tel Aviv district, only 16 tenders closed in the first half of 2026, including 15 specific Amidar tenders and just one regular public tender.
