Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is considering keeping Yehuda Eliyahu at the helm of the Israel Lands Authority only as acting director, after the attorney general decided on Sunday night to recommend that the High Court of Justice cancel Eliyahu’s permanent appointment. Even before that move, the expectation was that the court would likely strike down the appointment, and with the state now backing that position, the chances of salvaging the nomination appear slim.
The attorney general acted after Calcalist reported that Prof. Idit Solberg serves as chairwoman of Solberg Consulting, a company owned by her husband, Shai, which received about NIS 10 million from the Housing Ministry in 2025. Solberg also sat on the selection committee that recommended Eliyahu and voted for him, creating what appears to be a conflict of interest. Still, even without that revelation, the Supreme Court and the legal adviser had already identified serious flaws in the appointment process.
Smotrich’s possible workaround would leave Eliyahu in the same job with the same powers, but add the title “acting director.” That could matter because once the Knesset dissolution law passes its third reading, the government enters an election period and is barred from appointing senior officials. In that case, a new permanent chief might not be named for many months, and Eliyahu would continue operating in Judea and Samaria, an arena of major interest to Smotrich.
The plan is not simple. The Israel Lands Authority is under Housing Minister Haim Katz, who, together with the finance minister and the prime minister, is supposed to determine the identity of the director-general. Katz could seek to preserve that power rather than cede it. The article also notes that from December 2025, when Yanki Quint resigned, until May 2026, when Eliyahu was appointed, Idan Moualem served as acting director while also heading the Public Transportation Authority.
Eliyahu’s status would also raise legal questions. By law, even an acting appointee must meet the job’s threshold requirements, and courts have already expressed doubt that Eliyahu has exceptional qualifications, as required for a political ally of the appointing minister. In the first hearing last Wednesday, the Supreme Court pointed to the selection committee’s scoring, noting that only two of its five members gave Eliyahu the top mark. The report says the dispute underscores a broader problem in which key government posts are left vacant or filled by acting officials for political reasons.
