Israel’s Central Elections Committee has appointed Lilach Wiseman as head of a new digital communications unit, adding to a string of disputed senior appointments at the body. The article says the committee’s top posts are being filled by people identified with the left, and argues the process has been marked by unexplained decisions and missing answers.
The piece recalls the controversy over the extension of former director general Orly Ades’s term by Supreme Court Justice Solberg, after which Ades suddenly left. She was replaced in a rushed process by former committee legal adviser Dan Livneh, who later told the program “Zman Emet” that he feared a “Capitol” scenario, in an apparent allusion to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It also notes earlier reporting on the committee’s new legal adviser, Yifat Siminovski, whose ties to a former adviser in Naftali Bennett’s campaign led to that adviser’s resignation after complaints filed on behalf of Likud by attorney Bombach.
Wiseman was selected about two weeks ago through a tender, but her appointment was not publicly announced until the reporter submitted an inquiry on Thursday afternoon. Minutes later, the article says, her name was leaked to a rival outlet by a supposedly state body. Wiseman, described in the article as left-leaning, previously worked as a journalist at Globes and spent nine years as spokesperson for the Finance Ministry. The article says ministers and coalition figures view her as confrontational toward the government, and that Bezalel Smotrich ended her employment, after which she received a severance package under understandings with the Civil Service Commission.
The committee says the new post was created because of technological changes and the wide use of social media, and that the hiring process was conducted properly. It said the selection panel unanimously chose Wiseman as the best candidate, citing her extensive experience in communications and public relations, including her nine-year term at the Finance Ministry. The committee added that the job is complex and that during her tenure four finance ministers and six director generals changed. It rejected all insinuations about the appointment, saying they have no basis.
