Vetting panel disqualifies heritage minister’s nominee for Antiquities Authority chief

Esther Schreiber blocked after panel finds that the tender that led to her selection illegally lowered criteria; Ben Gvir says ‘deep state’ can’t handle religiously observant women

A governmental vetting committee on Thursday nixed Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu’s nominee to lead the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Hebrew media reported the committee, led by retired judge Shulamit Dotan, blocked Esther Schreiber because the tender that led to Schreiber’s selection in May featured lower criteria than demanded by law.

Haaretz cited sources who had seen the decision as saying Schreiber failed to satisfy the legal requirements to be IAA director, which, under Israel’s 1975 Government Companies Law, include five years of senior managerial experience.

The newspaper and other outlets previously reported that Schreiber had significantly embellished her resume, including by exaggerating the size of a religious advocacy organization she managed.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, head of Eliyahu’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party, claimed the “deep state” had blocked Schreiber because she is visibly observant.

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“The official reason — legal. The real reason — a religious CEO with a head covering doesn’t sit right with the deep state,” Ben Gvir wrote on X.

The High Court earlier this month declined to block Schreiber’s appointment. Ahead of a hearing on the matter, Eliyahu sent Justice Yechiel Kasher a highly unusual text message asking him “to help safeguard our right — and our duty — to implement the policy for which we were elected.” The judge panned the minister over the move.

Schreiber, like the current IAA head Eli Escozido and his predecessor, Israel Hasson, does not have a background in archaeology.

Her selection for IAA chief came as the government sought to establish a separate antiquities authority, also under the Heritage Ministry, to oversee archaeological activities in the West Bank and Gaza. Critics in Israeli academia and the Palestinian Authority have said the effort amounts to de facto annexation, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly halted the legislative process earlier this month amid the controversy.

Rosella Tercatin contributed to this report.

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