Civil Service Commissioner Shmuel Hollander claims that High
Court President Aharon Barak approved the appointment of
dozens of employees needed to man Hamerkaz Lenihul Tikim (the
Center for File Management, known as the "Manat")
without a public tender, as required by the law and Civil
Service regulations.
As part of the improper proceedings, Hollander's daughter was
appointed secretary of the Manat at the Rishon Letzion Court.
Barak denied having any involvement in the publication of the
tender or the manning of the posts before the tender.
Political figures say that clearly one of the two sides is
lying.
A report submitted by State Comptroller Eliezer Goldberg
determined that the positions in the judicial system were
manned illegally. Goldberg lodged piercing criticism against
the court and the Civil Service Commission, but refrained
from mentioning names or laying blame on either of the two
figures. Regarding the appointment of court secretaries the
Comptroller said that from the middle of 2002 through May
2004, half of the 82 appointments of secretaries were carried
out without a tender. In some cases, he reported, relatives
of ranking figures received preference.
Even after tenders were publicized in the middle of 2001 the
courts continued to hire employees without a tender,
including two relatives of high-ranking state employees, one
of whom works in the Courts Administration.
The Comptroller avoided mentioning names but according to
information received by reporter Yoav Yitzchak the two are
the daughter of then Court Administration Director Retired
Judge Dan Arbel and the daughter of Civil Service
Commissioner Shmuel Hollander.
According to a statement by the Civil Service Commission
Spokesman, "Commissioner Hollander was not involved in any
way whatsoever in his daughter's hiring. She contacted the
court administration directly and was hired by the President
of the Tel Aviv Magistrate Court and the appointment was
approved in accordance with Barak's request to man the
appointments quickly, without a tender."
Meanwhile the Court Administration denied Hollander's
version. "Hollander's remarks are incorrect. President Barak
did ask to execute the appointments as quickly as possible
but did not mention appointments without a tender, nor did he
approve doing so," said the spokeswoman.
