Blue and White did not permit the naming of a new accountant-general to be raised in the cabinet on Sunday, due to an ongoing dispute with Likud about appointments.
When Finance Minister Israel Katz asked to bring the approval of Yaheli Rotenberg to the powerful post in his ministry, Blue and White responded that there are other key appointments that are equally important, such as a director-general for Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn’s ministry.
“Blue and White is threatening to block this appointment due to political considerations of give and take,” Katz wrote on Facebook. “Preventing the appointment of an accountant-general at this critical time is like preventing the IDF from having a chief of staff in the middle of a war.”
Rotenberg is set to replace Roni Hizkiyahu, who announced his departure in July and whose last day was Thursday.
Many other key appointments remain vacant due to the dispute, including Israel Police inspector-general, state prosecutor, Prison’s Authority head, Finance Ministry director-general, and senior diplomatic postings in New York, Miami, Paris, Canberra and Addis Ababa.
Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue and White) has several political appointments at his disposal, which were divided among Likud, Labor and Blue and White in the coalition agreement but due to the dispute with Likud, he has not made any yet.
Even professional appointments are not currently made in the Foreign Ministry. Any of the vacancies could be filled by professionals, but none have been made since that of Ambassador to Russia Alex Ben-Zvi, Ambassador to China Irit Ben-Abba and Ambassador to Belarus Alex Goldman-Scheiman in July.
The appointments dispute is expected to flare up again next Sunday, when deliberations begin on appointing a new state’s attorney in a special committee created for that purpose. That post is particularly sensitive to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, due to his legal problems.