Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Overturn Candidate's Disqualification
Israel's Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit, has rejected a request for an interim order to overturn the disqualification of Moshe Mor Yosef, a candidate for CEO of the National Community Centers Association (Matnasim). Mor Yosef, currently the Deputy Director General of the Interior Ministry and a candidate promoted by the Shas party, had sought to invalidate the decision by the Dotan Committee, which blocked his candidacy due to a lack of experience.
The Supreme Court has ordered the respondents to submit preliminary responses to the petition and the request for an interim order by October 18. This decision follows a previous rejection by the Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court of Mor Yosef's plea to nullify the Dotan Committee's ruling. The labor court also ordered Mor Yosef to pay 15,000 shekels in legal costs.
The Dotan Committee, chaired by retired Judge Shulamit Dotan, disqualified Mor Yosef on July 6. This disqualification came despite Shas's efforts to advance his appointment, even in light of a 2020 State Comptroller report that found Mor Yosef had altered details on his resume when previously applying for a CEO position. Mor Yosef had argued that the Dotan Committee's decisions were flawed and that he met the qualifications.
Mor Yosef also sought to prevent the advancement of Galit Weidman's candidacy for the Matnasim CEO position. Weidman, considered a professional appointment, was the second-ranked candidate selected by the Matnasim's selection committee, which ultimately chose Mor Yosef. She previously served as a senior deputy to the Director of the Government Companies Authority.
The state had previously asked the Regional Labor Court to dismiss the case, arguing that the Supreme Court, not the labor court, has jurisdiction over decisions made by the Dotan Committee. The labor court agreed, stating that the Dotan Committee is an independent statutory committee whose decisions involve the exercise of governmental authority, thus falling outside the scope of labor relations.
