Committee for Senior Appointments: Rejected the candidacy of Amy Palmor , for the position of chairman of the Israel Electric Company

Another surprising disqualification for appointing one of the most senior figures in the Israeli economy. The Gilour Committee for the Approval of the Eligibility of Senior Appointments in Government Companies today (Wednesday) rejected the candidacy of Amy Palmor, former director general of the Ministry of Justice, for the position of chairman of the Israel Electric Company. The current disqualification comes a few days after the disqualification of former Defense Minister Amir Peretz for the position of IAI chairman, and an appeal has already been filed against this disqualification decision.
The Gilour Committee's reasons for disqualification are that Palmor does not meet the threshold of the "board of directors" for appointing board members in government companies - a "team" that was decided upon when Minister Yair Lapid served as finance minister. In addition, it was argued that Palmor lacked experience in the role of managing a company the size of the IEC.
Palmor was nominated for one of the most senior positions in the Israeli economy on behalf of Minister of Light Avigdor Lieberman and Minister of Energy Karin Elharar, who received the disqualification notice while attending the World Climate Conference in Glasgow.
Adv. Palmor (55) served for five and a half years as the director general of the Ministry of Justice, while former Minister Tzipi Livni and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked served as the ministry's minister. Palmor was also the director general of the rabbinical courts from 2014 to 2015. She was also an attorney in the criminal department of the State Attorney's Office and even served as the director of the amnesty department in the Ministry of Justice for 14 years.
Amir Peretz (69) was disqualified even though he served as Deputy Prime Minister, Defense Minister, Minister of Economy and Industry, Minister of Environmental Protection, Histadrut chairman and head of the Sderot local council. Peretz does not have the business and managerial experience needed to run a government company that employs 15,000 people and records annual sales of four billion dollars.
A senior government official said today: "I do not understand what the appointments committee is going through. These are two very worthy appointments. It is unlikely that anyone who knew how to manage the entire defense system in Israel and who managed one of the largest and most important government offices will be disqualified."
The appointments committee for the approval of the directors of the government companies is headed by lawyer Bilha Gilour, who until 2014 was a judge in the Haifa District Court. In 2015, Gilour was appointed by the Attorney General, Yehuda Weinstein, as chairman of the committee examining the appointments in government companies.
The "Board of Directors" was launched in November 2013 and tightened the criteria for appointing personalities as directors of government companies. The candidate must have the appropriate skills, extensive experience in the business arena and education in the field in which he is a candidate to be appointed as a director in a government company.
The Office of the Minister of Energy stated: "I was informed together with the media about the decision of the appointments committee not to approve the appointment of Amy Palmor to the board of directors of the Electric Company. "Wrong date of the committee's meeting, even though it was announced that we intend to send a supplementary reasoning letter for the appointment, refusal to specify the reasons for giving the score to Ms. Palmor and managing the entire process in a non-transparent manner and on the media." Finance Minister Lieberman's office declined to comment on the disqualification.