What is behind the puzzling letters of complaint sent by Education Minister Yoav Kish to Yad Vashem Executive Chairman Danny Dayan? Kish, who is in charge of the institution that commemorates the Holocaust, sent Dayan a letter on Wednesday with a string of complaints about the conduct of Yad Vashem's board meetings. Kish claims in the letter that he himself and other government ministers were not summoned to meetings, even though the law requires it.
According to the Minister of Education, the board meetings are illegally attended by former Knesset member Shuli Mualem and former minister Shai Piron. Kish also claims that informal letters defined as "meeting summaries" are not, and this constitutes a "grave omission," as he puts it.
"You were expected that the Yad Vashem administration headed by you would act properly and in accordance with the law and regulations, and it seems that this is not the case. I would like you to urgently specify in the circular how you intend to act in light of this serious failure, and to clarify whether unauthorized parties voted at meetings of Yad Vashem's management," the Minister of Education attacked.
Minister Yoav Kish, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Dayan did respond to Kish urgently. In a letter also sent today, Dayan presented the government's approval for the appointments of Mualem and Firon, and even invited Kish to attend Yad Vashem's board meetings. Dayan also noted that the education minister would be the first to ever do so. "If you are the first Minister of Education interested in being an active member of Yad Vashem's board, I will be very happy. The upcoming meeting is scheduled for Wednesday next week," Dayan wrote.
Dayan also noted that, contrary to the minister's statements, "the Director General of the Ministry of Education has been invited and is invited to all meetings. Moreover, shortly after the establishment of the 36th government, I wrote an official letter on my own initiative to the Cabinet Secretary, Attorney Yossi Fuchs, asking him to act to appoint counsel for the new ministers. My letter has not yet been answered, although I have sent a reminder to Attorney Fuchs, and I have even raised the matter with you orally and in writing."
Prime Minister Netanyahu with Yad Vashem Chairman Danny Dayan (archive), photo: Gideon Markowitz
Since Kish's criticism is tenuous, it seems that another motive lies behind the letter. Dayan, who was previously sent by Netanyahu to serve as Israel's consul in New York, later joined Netanyahu's hated former Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar. The latter is also the one who pushed to appoint Dayan to the position, and tonight also rushed to come to his defense.
"The intention to oust Dani Dayan is illegal, full of extraneous considerations and mainly harms this important and sacred national institution. Dayan is a man of many talents, with a rare national, historical and humane consciousness. He fulfills his duties in a distinctly official manner. Yad Vashem must not enter Netanyahu's Hondetta Clearing House," Sa'ar wrote.
MK Gideon Saar. Standing behind Dayan, Photo: Gideon Markowitz
Israel's Consul General in New York, Danny Dayan
Sources close to Yad Vashem also said that "Kish began an order from above in a clumsy and clumsy attempt to oust Danny Dayan in order to appoint a former Likud MK in his place. However, because of Dayan's integrity, there was no flawlessness in his functioning. It is unfortunate that the political appetite is trying to erode this sacred institution as well," Dayan's associates said.
It should be noted in this context that one of the first actions that harmed Poland's international standing in the West was the replacement of the top echelons of Poland's National Remembrance Institute with political appointees appointed by the government.
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