Attorney General Moves to Block Yehuda Eliyahu’s Appointment as Israel Land Authority Chief

Israel’s attorney general said on Monday she will recommend that the High Court of Justice overturn the appointment of Yehuda Eliyahu as director general of the Israel Land Authority. Her position follows a report that one of the appointment committee members, Prof. Idit Solberg, serves as chairwoman of Solberg Consulting, a company owned by her husband, Shai Solberg, which has provided services to the Housing and Construction Ministry worth about NIS 10 million over recent years.

Before that disclosure, three petitions had already been filed against the appointment. The Academy for a Democratic Israel argued the selection process was flawed and that Eliyahu is close to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The Arab Center for Alternative Planning said Eliyahu had previously published racist messages. Na'amat, the women’s organization, argued the appointment continued the harm to proper representation of women in senior public service roles.

The first hearing on the petitions was held last week, after which the judges issued an order nisi and set another hearing for July 1. The attorney general now told Smotrich she cannot defend the appointment in court. If the government decides to pursue the appointment on its own, the High Court could still strike it down, forcing ministers to propose another candidate.

The previous Israel Land Authority chief, Yanki Quint, left at the end of last year as planned, but the search committee began work only in February and announced Eliyahu’s appointment in May. Since then, Idan Moalem, head of the National Public Transport Authority, has been serving as acting chief, but his term was limited to three months and expired in May. Moalem may be asked to return temporarily, likely for a longer stretch, because the government is unlikely to complete a permanent appointment before elections. Meanwhile, the authority’s land tenders have slowed sharply, with only 16 closed in Tel Aviv during the first half of 2026, including 15 Amidar tenders and just one regular public tender.