At Sunday’s meeting of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, ministers debated a controversial bill that would require all senior public officials to step down at the end of a government’s term. The bill, proposed by MK Tzvika Fogel of the Otzma Yehudit party, has sparked intense political discussion, particularly among ministers seeking greater alignment between elected leadership and high-level government appointees.
Minister Amichai Shikli described the proposal as “a very serious bill,” noting that it mirrors a model used in the United States—“only there, it involves thousands of positions, not just a few.” He drew a comparison to military planning: “In the IDF, there’s a concept called ‘mission planner identity.’ You can’t execute a mission unless you’re the one who planned it.”
Expanding on this idea, Shikli argued that certain top officials—including the IDF Chief of Staff and legal advisors—often hold views opposed to the policies of the elected government. “This creates a built-in partnership with people who resist the direction the government wants to take,” he said. “We saw this during the war, with a number of key figures. Let’s not name names now, but their behavior influenced decisions both in military operations and in the legal arena.”
Minister of Diaspora Affairs Shikli continued, “What we’re witnessing is paralysis across many areas of government—whether in defense or in legal proceedings. This bill, especially with the two-thirds override clause, is one of the most important I’ve seen. We must push it forward to ensure the elected government can implement its policies, not be blocked by unelected officials.”
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi echoed this stance. “In my view, this is an extremely important bill. I’d even expand it beyond the eight positions currently included. And honestly, I think the two-thirds clause is unnecessary.”
Karhi gave an example: “Take the Attorney General. When this government took office, she wasn’t part of that two-thirds. So sometimes the bill would succeed, and sometimes someone opposing the government would stay in place. These are people the government doesn’t trust, who work to undermine its policies.”
He added, “This is about democracy. If the people elect their leaders at the ballot box, why should unelected bureaucrats—appointed by the previous administration—stay in place for an entire term? The public needs to know that when we say we’ll replace those officials, we mean it—and they’ll get to decide at the polls.”
Karhi then directly addressed Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon, who attended the closed-door discussion. “What’s undemocratic about this? What’s unconstitutional? The reality is that bureaucrats appointed by past governments want to hold on to power indefinitely. And when we try to remove them, it turns into chaos, with High Court petitions and legal wrangling. This system protects itself. It’s time to change that.”
“We’re demanding that the people regain the power to elect their representatives and empower them to carry out their policies,” Karhi declared. “This bill is just one more step toward restoring Israel as both a Jewish and democratic state.”
Shikli closed the discussion with a sharp example: “Let’s say the prime minister decides—based on strategic defense concerns—to initiate a strike on Iran. As we’ve seen in past governments, if the Chief of Staff and senior defense officials are opposed, they can effectively sabotage the plan. That’s not acceptable in a democracy.”

{Matzav.com}