The Civil Service Appointments Committee convened today and decided that Prime Minister Lapid will be able to appoint a permanent director general to the Prime Minister’s Office.
The appointments committee, headed by the Civil Service Commissioner, approved the appointment of Naama Schultz as director general of the Prime Minister’s Office to the transitional prime minister, Yair Lapid.
For the past year, Schultz has served as the director general of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, and was appointed director general of the Prime Minister’s Office by Prime Minister Yair Lapid, when he took office last week. The appointment will be submitted to the government for approval this coming Sunday.
On the other hand, the appointments committee refused the request of the deputy prime minister, Naftali Bennett, to appoint a permanent director general to his office. As a result, he was forced to appoint Eden Bisman to the position of deputy prime minister.
The commission justified the difference in the decisions by saying that a director general in the Prime Minister’s Office is a significant role and this should be confirmed, in the context of the visit of US President Joe Biden.
Recall that earlier this week, News 12 reporter Dafna Liel reported that there is a difficult tension between Lapid and Bennett after the replacement Prime Minister Bennett is not legally entitled to receive conditions. Two employees, an annual budget to operate a bureau and an office in an area of up to 170 meters.
Bennett planned to appeal to the Knesset’s Finance Committee and request a change in the criteria for accepting a prime minister’s retirement condition from 18 to 12 months. The letter has already been drafted, but incoming Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who blocked the request and clarified that he would not support it, claimed that it was a personal request that would also tarnish it, according to Liel’s report.
Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett responded to the report, saying: “Bennett is serving as an alternate prime minister until a new government is formed. The letter described was never sent because it was not needed. “
The Prime Minister’s Office said: “Relations are good and the two are working together.”