The struggles between the Minister of Communications and Israel Post continue: Against the backdrop of the ouster of Israel Post Chairman Mishael Vaknin, Director General of the Ministry of Communications Maimon (Moni) Shamila is demanding that Israel Postal Company CEO David Laron disclose whether the company funded the representation in the petition filed by Israel Post and Mishael Vaknin to the High Court of Justice. In addition, Shamila demands that the chairman fund his representation himself.
In a letter he wrote yesterday to David Laron, titled "Concern about the violation of the provisions of the law by the Israel Postal Company in the framework of the High Court of Justice," Shmila said: "Without addressing at this time the body of the legal arguments in the petition in question, the Minister believes that its submission constitutes a violation of the provisions of section 11A 9A of the Government Companies Law."
"Designed to sabotage the privatization process"
The letter argued that the petition was intended to sabotage the postal privatization process. According to the letter: "The minister believes that the filing of the petition is intended to sabotage the postal privatization process, and therefore the board's decision to file the petition bases an argument that the board is not properly fulfilling its role. A warning is hereby given against exercising the power of the Ministers under section 22A 6."
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It added: "The petition documents indicate that the Israel Postal Company, although not part of the process of removing Mr. Vaknin from his position as a director at all, shares the representation in the petition with Mr. Vaknin. I would like to answer immediately whether Mr. Vaknin personally bears the costs of representing him in the petition. To the extent that the answer is negative, it should be clarified that the use of public funds to finance representation of a private person is inconsistent with the provisions of the law and severely harms proper administration."
It was also alleged that the law firm had a conflict of interest. In his letter, Shamila wrote: "It was brought to my attention that last night at the board meeting, claims were raised by board members regarding the funding of the outgoing chairman, who is no longer a member of the board, and that the law firm, which represents and has a serious conflict of interest in the matter due to being the beneficiary of the fat payment, rejected the claims of the board members. This is a serious matter that amounts to a serious blow to proper administration."
Does not fulfill its function properly
The Director General of the Ministry of Communications notes in the letter that "if no immediate notice is given clarifying that Vaknin finances his representation himself, the Minister will consider contacting the Minister of Finance to use his authority under section 115E of the Postal Law and section 15 of the Interpretation Law, and to strip the company of the authority to contract with external lawyers."
There is no quiet in the government. Minister Shlomo Krei, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Shamila emphasized at the end of the letter that "the court did not grant the request to issue an order suspending the termination of Mr. Vaknin's employment. Mr. Vaknin is a private person, is not an organ of the Israel Postal Company and the company is not entitled to provide him with any assistance from its financial sources and has a duty of confidentiality in relation to him."
It should be noted that the privatization of Israel Post advanced to another stage yesterday, after last week the company embarked on the public stage of privatization with the publication of the sales procedure to the company in advertisements in newspapers and on the Companies Authority website.
Rothschild & Co. Bank, which manages relations with investors in the sale process for the Companies Authority, issued an invitation last Tuesday to the first "investor conference" to be held next Tuesday. At the offices of the Israel Post, with the participation of the company's management, the director of the Companies Authority and other senior officials from the Authority, the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Finance, who accompany the company in the recovery plan and privatization.
Mishael Vaknin, Chairman of the Israel Post of the Economy Committee Israel Post Reform, photo: from the Knesset Channel
However, during the period of progress in the privatization process, Israel Post is currently operating without the company's chairman, Mishael Vaknin, after the Minister of Communications, Shlomo Krei, decided to remove him, on the grounds that he was not fulfilling his duties properly.
Israel Post: "Illegal attempt at impeachment"
In the meantime, the Israel Postal Company has decided to immediately petition the High Court of Justice to stop the illegal attempt to end the term of the chairman of the board, according to the Post. On August 9, the Minister of Communications, the Minister of Regional Cooperation, the Minister of Finance, the Government Companies Authority, and the Attorney General are expected to submit to the High Court of Justice a response to the request for an interim injunction and a petition for a conditional injunction. Until then, the company is supposed to manage the privatization process without a chairman.
The Post Office said on Monday that "the impeachment attempt is intended to serve improper political motives and to hold accountable those who have cleaned up a longstanding culture of political appointments and arranging jobs for members. The impeachment attempt harms the company, its employees, its customers and the entire public, and harms the privatization of the company, which was launched only last week and is so critical to the company's future."
Adv. Michal Rosenbaum, Photo: Elad Malka
At the same time, the Director of the Companies Authority, Adv. Michal Rosenbaum, who opposes the removal of the chairman, turned to the Attorney General this week to act to bring forward a decision on the matter, due to the damage caused to the company that is in the process of privatization.
In the letter, Rosenbaum wrote, "Our position is that the impeachment process will constitute a violation of the public interest at this time. In other words, we are concerned not only with impeachment without justifiable cause, but with an action that could have, especially at this time, substantial consequences for the good of society and the state coffers."
"Challenging and defying the government's decision"
In response, Minister of Communications Qari issued an appeal to Minister Amsalem calling on him to act vis-à-vis the Civil Service Commission for disciplinary action against the Director of the Companies Authority, following her exceeding her authority and her intervention in the process of removing the Postal Chairman after the ministerial decision and the High Court decision.
Among other things, Minister Qari wrote: "The content of the letter and what is stated in it challenges and defies the decision of the government ministers, a decision that was made in due process, including consultation with her as director of the Government Companies Authority. It is understood that the letter constitutes an exceeding of authority and is devoid of any legal validity."
Israel Post office, photo: Yehoshua Yosef
"Moreover, Ms. Rosenbaum's obsession with canceling the process of removing Mr. Vaknin, to the point of issuing an urgent letter to the Attorney General in excess of authority and while not accepting the High Court's decision on the matter, raises my suspicion that the authority director has a conflict of interest on this matter," he said in conclusion. "I call on you, honorable ministers, to work with the Civil Service Commission to bring Mrs. Rosenbaum to disciplinary action."
Examining the issue
Israel Post has not yet responded to the letter, but said it is examining the issue. The company was surprised by the threat to oust the entire board of directors, simply because they expressed a professional position regarding the interests of the company and the public. According to the company, the attempt to intimidate those entrusted with proper corporate governance as gatekeepers on behalf of and on behalf of the public is part of the attempt to take over the company politically while harming the privatization process.
The company emphasized its full confidence in the company's board of directors and its absolute commitment to the implementation of the recovery plan and the successful privatization of Israel Post.
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