State Funds Ministers' Lawyer in Eliahu Land Authority Fight

On July 5, the state asked the High Court to cancel Yehuda Eliahu's appointment as Israel Land Authority director while approving about NIS 100,000 for private counsel to represent Netanyahu, Smotrich and Housing Minister Haim Katz in support of the appointment. Dozens of local-authority heads urged the court not to cancel the appointment before the hearing. The attorney-general would not defend the appointment and approved external representation. RMI steers most state land and housing tenders, so Israel needs clean appointments and stable land governance that respects both legal review and elected policy.