Former Likud MK Osnat Mark is acting to thwart the recent appointment of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry Director-General Avi Cohen Scali to lead a directorate within the Prime Minister's Office responsible for the rehabilitation of the North, KAN News reported on Wednesday evening.
KAN reported that Mark, who is widely known as a confidante of Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister's wife, wants to receive the position for herself. KAN added on Thursday morning that Likud MK Keti Shitrit was also acting to thwart the appointment, reportedly because she wanted it for her son, Moshe Shitrit, former deputy mayor of Beit Shemesh.
KAN added that one of the arguments against Cohen Scali, who is also a resident of Beit Shemesh, is that he supported incumbent Aliza Bloch and not a candidate preferred by the Likud. Bloch eventually lost the election.
Channel 12 later also made the same report, as did other Hebrew media outlets.
The report was not confirmed. MK Shitrit denied the report, and her son told KAN that he would not accept the position even if it were offered to him.
At midday on Thursday, Mark and the prime minister's office had yet to respond.
The report came weeks after a Channel 13 investigation found that Transportation Miri Regev had given preferential treatment to mayors who had supported her in the Likud primary election. The Israel Police opened an investigation into Regev. KAN's report also came after National Unity leaders MK Benny Gantz and MK Gadi Eisenkot accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of preferring political considerations over national security.
Broad condemnation over thwart attempt
Cohen-Scali's appointment was made public on Tuesday, and the report that Likud politicians were acting to thwart it drew broad condemnation. The condemnations came from within the government, including Development of the Negev and Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf, and Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer; from the opposition, including Gantz and newly elected leader of the Labor party, Yair Golan; and from a forum of mayors from cities and towns in the North.
The forum of northern mayors wrote in a letter to Netanyahu, "Our residents have been removed from their homes for over eight months, do not sleep at night, and are losing their minds out of concern."
"Business owners, tourist attractions, and farmers have already collapsed, and the government is playing games! The role of the director to implement the plan for [rehabilitation of] the North is important and significant. We demand that Mr. Cohen Scali remain in his position," the mayor wrote.