Israel’s High Court of Justice signaled on Wednesday that it may overturn the appointment of Yehuda Eliyahu as director general of the Israel Land Authority. In hearings on petitions challenging the appointment, the court issued an order nisi requiring the state to explain why Eliyahu’s appointment should remain valid. Until now, the petitioners had carried the burden of proving the appointment was flawed, but the justices said the burden had shifted to the state. A further hearing is set for July 1, when the government will present its response.
The hearing was jolted by a morning report in Calcalist that exposed a possible conflict of interest involving Prof. Idit Solberg, a member of the appointments committee that recommended Eliyahu and voted for him. Solberg chairs Solberg Consulting, while the company’s shares belong entirely to her husband, Shai. The company provides services to government ministries, including the Housing Ministry, and in 2025 it received about 10 million shekels from that ministry. Because the Israel Land Authority answers to the housing minister, the issue raises a question about Solberg’s participation in appointing someone who could affect the company’s revenue.
The state asked to postpone the hearing so prosecutors could examine the new claims, but justices Yael Willner, Ofer Grosskopf and Khaled Kabub rejected the request. They said the appointment was already troubled even without the newspaper report. The main legal concern is the close relationship between Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Eliyahu, who are friends, relatives and political allies. Under law and precedent, appointing someone with such ties is allowed only if that person has especially exceptional qualifications.
The court reviewed the committee’s grading sheets and said they do not support the claim that Eliyahu has unique qualifications. Eliyahu was appointed in early May. Three petitions were filed, by the Academia for a Democratic Israel, by a joint group of Naamat, the Israel Women’s Lobby and Forum Dvora, and by the Arab Center for Alternative Planning. The petitions also argue that the state failed to ensure proper representation for women, especially because comparable female candidates should have been preferred. Eliyahu’s supporters pointed to his experience in settlement in Judea and Samaria, but the state conceded that the committee gave that experience heavy weight while overlooking gaps in areas such as the private market, entrepreneurship, urban renewal and rising-demand housing markets.
