The Appointments Committee, headed by Judge Shulamit Dotan, informed the Minister of Heritage that it is disqualifying the appointment of Este Schreiber to the position of Director General of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
According to a report on Channel 7, the decision was made even though Schreiber went through the professional screening process and was recommended for the position, and even after the Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Heritage, Attorney Hanan Erlich, approved the appointment after a legal review.
As part of her decision, Dotan determined that the threshold conditions set in the tender were lower than required by law - and therefore announced the disqualification of the tender for the position of Director General of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Sources familiar with the details of the process criticized the decision, claiming that Schreiber met all the requirements set out in the tender and passed all the professional examination stages. According to them, the process lasted for months, and the claims against the threshold conditions were raised only after the candidate was selected.
According to a source in the ministry, the rejection of the appointment stems from Schreiber being "a religious woman with a headscarf." According to him, "the committee would not have rejected the appointment of any other person with these criteria. But when it comes to a professional woman with an impressive record of accomplishment and meeting all the criteria, this is a clearly political and unprofessional decision.".
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded: "The official reason - 'legal'. The real reason - it's not appropriate for the Deep State to have a religious CEO wearing a headscarf. Tell us more about how 'painful' the lack of women in public service is to you.".
