Anger at the JNF following the exposure of "Israel Today", according to which the ministry does not consult with them regarding the appointment of the director general of the Israel Land Authority • Management officials: "If they try to nationalize us - we will take the land from the state
Minister of Housing Litzman
Photography:
Oren Ben Hakon
The Jewish National Fund is going into battle against the Israel Land Authority and the Ministry of Housing.
"If the state does not count us - we will not count it," members of the JNF clarified at a board meeting held this week.
According to sources present at the meeting, "the agreement was cross-party: if the state tries to nationalize the KKL-JNF, we will take the KKL-JNF land out of the hands of the state and manage it alone.
The board meeting was held ahead of a meeting that is expected to take place between the new chairman of the JNF, Avraham Duvdevani, and members of the Ministry of Housing and the Israel Land Authority (RMI).
The outrage of KKL-JNF board members stemmed from Israel Today's revelation that the Ministry of Housing refuses to consult with the KKL-JNF on the issue of appointing RMI CEO - contrary to the 1961 charter, which explicitly states that the government will appoint RMI director after consulting with The Jewish National Fund. "In accordance with the agreement, Rami manages the JNF's land, which is spread over more than two million dunams throughout the country. This is about 12% of all state land, but about 40% of the land in demand areas in the center of the country. About half of the land held by the JNF was purchased with the help of Jewish philanthropists around the world who sought to preserve and strengthen Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel.
According to the spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Adv. Elazar Bamberger, this agreement is no longer relevant, and therefore the obligation to consult with the JNF has "passed away" and "there is no legal obligation to consult with the JNF before appointing a new director." Meaning: The JNF will not have the right to influence the identity of the person who will be loyal to its lands.
As we published, in response, the JNF is considering pulling out a "contingency plan" and working to remove its land management from RMI.
Bamberger's letter was sent against the background of Housing Minister Yaakov Litzman's intention to appoint Yaakov Quint - currently director of the Government Companies Authority - as director of RMI. Deputy Attorney General Dina Zilber approved appointing Quint without a tender, but recommended setting up a search committee. In order to grant the procedure "a kind of 'kosher certificate', which confers a good ability to protect the appointment from legal assertions regarding its kosherness and correctness."
In other words, Zilber recommended setting up the search committee in order to produce a semblance of competition to provide legal coverage for Quint's appointment.
"It's a knife blow"
Members of the JNF's board of directors have attacked the state's conduct ("stabbing") and fear that the refusal to consult them regarding the members of the search committee for the position of CEO of Rami indicates its intention to remove another clause in the convention That "the lands of the Jewish National Fund shall be managed in accordance with the Memorandum and the Articles of Association of the Jewish National Fund."