"We are all too familiar with political jobs and positions running in the family," he told reporters.
Jerusalem, November 1 - Alternate Prime Minister and Yesh Atid Party Chairman Yair Lapid announced today that to combat the scourge of public officials favoring family members and close associates for various important positions, he has named Keren Ilail, his wife Lihi's sister, to head up a team to investigate the phenomenon and produce concrete recommendations on how to curtail it.
Controversy began to swirl last night when reports emerged that a close relative of a senior government figure now sits on the board of directors of the Keren HaKayemet L'Yisrael, also known as the Jewish National Fund. KKL administers much of the public land and national park areas of Israel, and as such exerts much influence on the disposition of lands for development and sale, a position of public trust. Objections by lawmakers, mostly from the Opposition, to the appointment, captured the morning news cycle Monday and led Lapid to launch an anti-nepotism commission.
"We are all too familiar with political jobs and positions running in the family," he told reporters. "Sometimes a father will spend a career in politics, lead a political party, and pave the way for his son, who led a career outside politics, say in television, to himself lead a political party, riding on his looks, name recognition, and family fame to cover his lack of qualifications to hold high office."
"Other times, a man might handpick those closest to him by blood or marriage to serve in his political machine," he continued. "Then, when a position of public trust opens up, for which he can name a person to fill, he chooses his family members or cronies instead of looking for the most qualified candidate."
"The public is clearly tired of this," Lapid added. "That is why I am establishing the anti-nepotism commission, which will be called the Ilail Commission after its director, Keren Ilail."
According to Lapid, the Ilail Commission will conduct a survey of Israel's public institutions and identify potential conflicts of interest arising from family connections between people in different positions. Depending on the scale of the potential conflict of interest, and the potential for malfeasance resulting from such a situation, the commission will recommend specific steps to eliminate those conflicts of interest, either by restructuring the positions to avoid those areas of conflict, or removing certain people from those positions of trust.
"It may take some time," he acknowledged. "But we will get it done. If you have any questions, you may direct them to our Chief of Communications, Yoav Lapid."