Gantz criticizes Levin-Sa’ar new judicial overhaul proposal, but offers to negotiate
National Unity head says talks can be held if justice minister stops blocking appointment of Supreme Court president, efforts to fire AG are halted, ministers obey court rulings
After days of silence on the matter, National Unity party chairman Benny Gantz on Saturday criticized Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s latest proposed changes to the judicial system, while adding that reforms were possible if certain conditions were met.
In a lengthy video statement, Gantz lamented the fact that ministers were focused on “bringing Israel back to October 6” — referring to division surrounding the government’s judicial overhaul efforts — rather than on “bringing back the hostages” held in Gaza.
“In order to carry out a broad and appropriate reform in the judicial system that will strengthen democracy, broad agreements are needed, time is needed and, above all, trust is needed,” Gantz said, arguing such changes are “not something that should be done in a hurry during wartime.”
Gantz joined Netanyahu’s government a few days after the Gaza war broke out on October 7, 2023, to project unity as Israel faced an unprecedented crisis. Until Gantz’s eventual resignation in June, the coalition agreement prevented judicial overhaul legislation from being advanced.
Now unimpeded by Gantz, Levin, the architect of the original overhaul bid, and Sa’ar, who recently rejoined the government, agreed to advance an overhaul package that would politicize judicial selection and drastically constrain the judiciary but includes elements milder than Levin’s original proposals.
Related — Overhaul redux: Levin’s ‘compromise’ proposal would again radically constrain the judiciary
In his statement, Gantz said Levin and Sa’ar’s proposal is “not a framework of national consensus” and “this is not how agreement will be built among the people.”
“This is at most consensus within Likud,” he added, jabbing at his former ally Sa’ar, who is reportedly on the cusp of returning to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party after leaving in 2020 with a promise to never serve under the prime minister again.
“Although this framework supposedly doesn’t see the coalition taking over the Judicial Selection Committee, as Levin originally sought, it isn’t lacking in problems,” Gantz said.
At the same time, he said, “with all the reservations and suspicion” toward the coalition, “we cannot ignore the fact that there are many people who feel that the judicial selection crisis demands a reform now, and they must not be ignored.”
Therefore, Gantz said, “For the good of the country, I am calling to hold discussions on the framework for the Judicial Selection Committee between representatives of the coalition and opposition and to check whether agreements can be reached.”
Levin, who in his capacity as justice minister also serves as the committee’s head, has refused to allow a vote for a new Supreme Court President to be held for over a year, as he seeks to have a conservative appointed to the position instead of acting Supreme Court President Isaac Amit.
Gantz listed three caveats for holding such discussions: A Supreme Court president needs to be appointed; negotiations need to allow for changes to the Levin-Sa’ar proposal; and all initiatives “harming democracy” in the current Knesset need to cease.
To fulfill the last condition, Gantz said efforts to fire the attorney general — for which many ministers have been pushing — should be halted, and ministers abide by court rulings or else be fired.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi declared this week that he would defy the High Court of Justice in a fight surrounding the tenure of members of the Kan public broadcaster’s governing council.
“Our goal in striving for agreements is to end the rift in the nation, provide peace, and deal with issues that are urgent for the country, and not turn things into a prelude to a return to a coup [against Israel’s democratic system]” Gantz said.
“If the [original] judicial overhaul returns, we will fight it with all legal tools at our disposal,” he added.
Unlike Levin’s original overhaul proposal, the new proposals would increase the power of the opposition to block judicial appointments in the committee. However, the new plan also allows the committee itself to become more politicized by watering down the influence of legal professionals.
Under the new proposal, Israel’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws would be given more heft through a more rigorous legislative process, though the specifics of that process were not detailed. Furthermore, they would not be subject to judicial review by the High Court of Justice. The top court’s powers to exercise judicial review over regular legislation would also be substantially restrained.
The fresh overhaul proposal marks Levin’s latest attempt to constrain the power of the judiciary, a campaign he launched in 2023 shortly after taking office, with an agenda that would have largely subjugated the judicial branch to the government. The effort was only halted at the last moment due to massive public backlash and protests. The overhaul was frozen following the October 7, 2023, attack, but Levin has attempted to revive it in recent months.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.
