Bar association head threatens legal action if no Supreme Court president appointed
Amit Becher calls on justice minister to end unprecedented situation in which the court has been without a permanent president for nearly five months
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The head of the Israel Bar Association (IBA) Amit Becher called on Justice Minister Yariv Levin Wednesday to swiftly schedule a vote for a new Supreme Court president in the Judicial Selection Committee, and threatened legal action if he continues to refuse to do so.
Speaking at an IBA event Wednesday night, Becher, an ardent and outspoken opponent of the government’s judicial overhaul agenda, also spoke out against the tactics of government members of the Judicial Selection Committee in the wake of reports of efforts to stymie the advancement of some judges.
The Judicial Selection Committee, which chooses the Supreme Court president, has met on several occasions since November to make appointments to magistrate and district courts, but Levin has steadfastly refused to schedule a vote to appoint a new president.
The court has been led by acting president Justice Uzi Vogelman ever since former president Esther Hayut retired in October, as a result of Levin’s refusal to appoint a new president, leading to an unprecedented situation in which the court has been without a permanent president for nearly five months.
Levin strongly opposes the current seniority system whereby the justice who has served the longest on the court is the automatic and only candidate for president.
Next in line for the position based on seniority is Justice Isaac Amit, a liberal, whereas Levin deeply wishes to appoint a conservative to the key position to assist with his plans to increase government influence over the judiciary.
Speaking at a ceremony for accepting new attorneys into the bar at Jerusalem’s International Conference Center, Becher said the IBA was “the tip of the spear in the fight for the independence of the legal system and law enforcement system,” and would “continue to fight” for what he described as Israel’s Jewish, democratic, egalitarian and progressive character.
“I call again from this platform on the justice minister to fulfill his legal and public duty, and put on the committee’s agenda the selection of a permanent Supreme Court president,” continued Becher.
“If this issue isn’t addressed soon we will act through legal means,” he warned.
Levin refused to convene the Judicial Selection Committee from January to November 2023, and it was only petitions to the High Court of Justice that forced him to finally convene the panel and start making judicial appointments.
Becher in his comments also alluded to tensions on the Judicial Selection Committee between the liberal majority and the government representatives.
There is currently a five-to-four liberal majority on the panel, including two of the three Supreme Court justices on the committee, the two IBA representatives and opposition MK Karin Elharar, against Levin, National Projects Minister Orit Strock, coalition MK Yitzhak Kroizer and Justice Noam Sohlberg.
Becher praised the efforts of the IBA’s two representatives on the committee, who he said “have unfortunately been forced to stymie efforts to thwart the advancement of judges whose rulings have not found favor with political officials.”
Such work, he said, “is the essence of the independence, professionalism, prestige and standing of the judicial system.”
Reports emerged in February that Strock of the ultranationalist Religious Zionism party had objected to the appointment of Judge Tal Tadmor Zamir to the Haifa District Court because the minister deemed her sentencing of Arab rioters in mixed cities during the 2021 Gaza conflict to have been too moderate.
Levin himself has reportedly been holding up the appointment to the Jerusalem District Court of Judge Joya Scapa-Shapira who the conservative minority opposes for various reasons.
Channel 13 reported that when Scapa-Shapira served in the State Attorney’s Office she filed an indictment on terrorism offenses against Itamar Ben Gvir, currently the national security minister and the head of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party.
Ben Gvir was ultimately acquitted of those charges.
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