Last update - 00:00 20/03/2007
Official: Hanegbi ordered Likud figures be given ministry jobs
By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent
Bat Sheva Kopatch, the director of the central district in the Environment Ministry, testified on Tuesday that when Tzachi Hanegbi began his tenure as environment minister, she was instructed "not to accept new employees, unless the hiring is carried out by the minister, who wants to be involved in the matter."
Hanegbi is standing trial for allegedly making political appointments during his tenure as environment minister between 2001 and 2003. Hanegbi is suspected of having appointed dozens of Likud Central Committee members and their associates to various positions within the ministry and related bodies.
Kopatch testified Tuesday morning and told the court of one employee, appointed by the minister's office, who was unfit for the job. She said that she discovered the man's ties to the minister when he was directly invited to a tour by the minister himself, and not through his supervisors. Two weeks after Hanegbi left the ministry, the man was fired.
The representative on behalf of the State Prosecution, attorney Erez Padan, told the court at the beginning of the trial that Hanegbi's appointments were carried out in various ways. "Considering the status of the minister, it would have been enough for him to have given general instructions saying he is interested in appointing his own candidates. These instructions are then followed by a more specific message, and in some cases, specific orders," he said.
"As a minister, Hanegbi was familiar with the ministries vulnerabilities ? positions with minimal requirements to which the minister can make political appointments," Padan added.
According to Padan, the caused much damage to the environment ministry as it destroyed the hierarchy within the ministry and brought in countless workers who were not fit to carry out their jobs.