Golden statue of Supreme Court president appears outside court

Police launch a brief criminal investigation after a near life-size model of Justice Miriam Naor mysteriously erected overnight

A statue depicting Supreme Court justice Miriam Naor appeared near the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on August 31, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
A statue depicting Supreme Court justice Miriam Naor appeared near the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on August 31, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Police on Thursday launched a brief criminal investigation after a gold statue of Supreme Court President Miriam Naor mysteriously appeared outside the courthouse in Jerusalem.

The statue, bedecked in gold spray and put on a decorative pedestal, was ringed by velvet ropes on a street corner near the court in the capital, was erected as a political protest by right wing groups.

In a statement, police said investigators were called to the court by security guards who discovered the near life-size statue Thursday morning after it had apparently been put up overnight.

Initially police said law enforcement was treating the incident as a criminal offense, but later conceded that no crime had been committed. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said on Twitter he did not know if there was justification for an investigation.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Naor. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A number of suspects believed to have erected the statue were briefly detained for questioning before being released.

A member of Derech Chaim, which advocates Jewish religious law in Israel, told Channel 10 that the statue was erected in protest of the court becoming “the ruler of the state.”

The statue was removed by authorities on Thursday morning.

In December, a gold statue of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu briefly appeared in downtown Tel Aviv before it was toppled by passersby.

That statue was erected by sculptor Itay Zalait who said he sought to “test the boundaries of free speech in Israel in 2016.”

 

The golden statue of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taken down at Rabin square in Tel Aviv, December 6, 2016. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Naor is the president of the Supreme Court and the High Court of Justice, and has come under fire in recent days after ruling that the government could continue its controversial practice of deporting undocumented migrants to an unnamed third country, but barred the state from incarcerating them indefinitely.

In the ruling written by Naor, the justices said that it “has not been proven that this (third) country is safe” and therefore migrants could not be deported against their will.

The ruling was criticized by residents of south Tel Aviv, who this week staged demonstrations outside Naor’s Jerusalem home in protest.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked slammed the ruling and accused the High Court of degrading Israel’s Jewish character. Shaked, from the hard-line Jewish Home party, immediately announced plans to introduce legislation allowing Israel to deport migrants even without their consent.

Other government ministers also criticized the court over the decision.

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