"Mafia conduct": this is how Deri removed the head of the Population and Immigration Authority from his position - voila! news

On video: Netanyahu and government officials arrived at a support meeting in Derai (Roni Kanfo)

The head of the Population and Immigration Authority Tomer Moskovitz announced yesterday (Tuesday) the end of his term, after only one and a half years in office.

Moskowitz was appointed to the position by former Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, for a term of four years, but yesterday, a month after the change of government, Interior Minister Michael Melchiali informed the Minister of the Interior that he had decided to leave his post. According to sources in the Ministry of the Interior and the Population Authority, Moskowitz apparently resigned voluntarily - But the decision was preceded by the "mask of rebellion" on the part of Shas chairman Aryeh Deri, who asked to replace him with a man of his trust and "show him the way out".

The Population and Immigration Authority is one of the largest authorities in the government, in charge of entry and exit from Israel, border control, the population registry and enforcing the stay and employment of foreign workers and employs more than two thousand workers.

The authority is subordinate to the Minister of the Interior, who appoints the head of the authority for a predetermined term of office.

Moskowitz, a lawyer by profession, previously served as director of the Enforcement and Collection Authority at the Ministry of Justice under Shaked.

In the summer of 2021, upon her entry into the Ministry of the Interior - she appointed him head of the Population Authority for a term of four years - with the possibility of an extension of another four years.

The queues caused an uproar - and the report was ordered.

Population Authority offices (Photo: Reuven Castro)

According to sources at the Ministry of the Interior, Moskovitz's decision to end his post was preceded by a "mask of rebellion" on the part of Yor Shas, former Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri. According to them, immediately after the change of government and Deri's entry into the ministry at the beginning of January, messages were sent that the minister wanted to replace him and appoint someone else to the head of the Population and Immigration Authority. A week later, Deri ordered the Director General of the Ministry of the Interior, Ronan Peretz, to conduct a "comprehensive review" of the delays in issuing passports and identity cards and to prepare a report on the failures in the Population and Immigration Authority that are causing the delays.

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They showed him the way out.

Moskovitz (Photo: Reuven Castro)

The long waiting times for passports and identity cards at the Population Authority bureaus have aroused indignation and widespread public criticism of the Ministry of the Interior in the past year.

A week after the formation of the government, the Chairman of the Interior Committee MK Yaakov Asher convened a discussion on the issue and demanded that the Population Authority present within two weeks a plan to reduce waiting times.

The former Deputy Minister of the Interior, MK Moshe Arbel, said at the hearing that Deri intends to add "projectors" to streamline the service, and read the letter issued by the Minister of the Interior to the CEO of his office, Peretz, in which he requested "to carry out a comprehensive review of the authority's conduct, and to examine the related failures to fulfill its most basic functions regarding the issuance of identity cards and the renewal and issuance of passports."

"The publication of the report will paint Moskovitz as responsible for the failures."

Deri (Photo: Flash 90, Tomer Neuberg)

In the meantime, the appointment of Deri Kosher as Minister of the Interior was invalidated by the High Court of Justice, he was dismissed from the government and Minister Malchiali was appointed as his replacement, but according to the sources, the messages towards Moskovitz remained the same. The factors that claim that Moskowitz was offered an alternative appointment in the Ministry of the Interior - to serve as the first appointed head of the Zur Hadassah Council. Zur Hadassah is expected to become an independent local authority within months and separate from the Mate Yehuda Council under its protection until today, a move that Shaked approved during her tenure as Minister of the Interior.

"They ordered a bogus test to threaten"

Yesterday, Moskovitz informed Melchiali about the end of his term.

The statement of the Ministry of the Interior states that "Moskowitz stated that he is at the disposal of the Minister of the Interior in any matter, for the sake of the success of the authority and its employees. Minister Malchiali expressed his regret at the departure of Moskowitz and said that he served as a loyal public servant and that many more plots were planned for him in the future."

According to an official at the Population Authority, the conduct of Deri and his men towards Moskovitz was reminiscent of a "mafia".

"The conduct towards him in the last month was disgraceful. Deri and his men abused him, ignored him and bypassed him. The boiling point was with the illusory inspection they ordered on the passports and threatened him with publication. This is mafia conduct, no less."

The source even claimed that there are sectarian considerations behind the impeachment attempt.

"Dari marked Moskovitch from the first day in the office without knowing him for a minute on sectarian grounds only. He showed him the door out solely because he is an Ashkenazi," he said.

The Office of the Minister of the Interior: "Moskowitz is a loyal public servant, we thank him for his dedicated work"

The Office of the Minister of the Interior said in response: "The Director General of the Population and Immigration Authority, Tomer Moskovitz, officially announced the end of his position yesterday and the full announcement has been published.

Moskowitz is a loyal public servant and we thank him for his dedicated work.

Any other statement or argument is a figment of the imagination of the "factor" and is apparently based on deliberate rumors and nothing else.

" The problem of the delay in the issuance of passports, and the treatment of the issue is a top priority.

The recommendations of the inspection committee will be submitted these days, and the Ministry of the Interior is determined to come up with a solution that will shorten the times for issuing passports for the benefit of the general public."

No response was provided from the Population and Immigration Authority and on behalf of Moskovitz.

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Tags

• Population and Immigration Authority

• Aryeh Deri

• Ministry of Interior

• Shas