Netanyahu eyes US system for choosing government officials

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised Israel’s bureaucracy in appointing senior government officials on Sunday. He clearly had his eyes on America as he praised the system open to President-elect Donald Trump, Israeli media reported.

“Donald Trump is appointing 4,000 people to positions without the committees and bureaucracy,” said Netanyahu. In Israel, he continued, it is not possible to nominate even a few hundred. “The system needs to be changed.”

During his weekly cabinet meeting, the prime minister approved the formation of a committee including Ministers Yariv Levin, Yoav Galant, Aylet Shaked, Yuval Steinitz and Aryeh Deri to discuss how to change the current nomination system in Israel.

According Haaretz, Netanyahu said that the new officials nominated by Trump would help him carry out his agenda. This is the reason, Netanyahu said, why Israeli ministries need new nominations without bids and committees.

Zionist Union MK Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin criticised Netanyahu for his attempt to imitate Trump. “Unfortunately, we knew this about Netanyahu a long time ago,” she said. “Trump became a man to be emulated. Netanyahu is blatantly copying Trump… his hatred of foreigners, his hostility toward journalists and now he wants to imitate his nomination of politicians.”

She concluded by doubting that Trump could be the “ideal model” for the prime minister of Israel to emulate.