High Court rejects petition to revoke Isaac Amit’s appointment as court president
Right-wing groups alleged that Judicial Selection Committee hadn’t sufficiently considered conflict of interest allegations against Amit, whom justice minister has vowed to boycott
The High Court of Justice on Sunday rejected a petition that asked it to revoke Justice Isaac Amit’s appointment as Supreme Court president.
Amit, who was elected by the Judicial Selection Committee on January 27 after 16 months in which the court lacked a permanent president, is set to be sworn in at a ceremony at the President’s Residence next week. Amit had been serving as acting chief justice since the previous head of the court retired.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin and other members of the right-wing governing coalition have said they refuse to recognize Amit as chief justice and will not work with him.
While they cite allegations that he had presided over several cases in which he had conflicts of interest, the snub is largely seen as frustration on their part after they failed to change the system to ensure the appointment of a conservative judge.
The petition calling for Amit’s appointment to be canceled was filed by right-wing organizations Lavi and Im Tirtzu on Friday, claiming that Amit was elected “hastily” and “without a thorough review” of claims of conflict of interest that surfaced in the weeks leading up to his election.
The claims were reviewed by the Judicial Selection Committee before it voted to appoint Amit to the Supreme Court presidency.
In his ruling on Sunday, Justice Alex Stein pointed out that “the only body authorized to discuss reservations regarding candidates for the position of Supreme Court president is the Judicial Selection Committee,” and stressed that the committee was given all the relevant information regarding the conflict of interest accusations, and Amit’s response, before it voted to install him.
Amit was appointed late last month after an unprecedented 16 months without a permanent Supreme Court president and in the face of unrelenting opposition from Levin, who wished to install a conservative to the position rather than the liberal Amit, but lacked the votes on the Judicial Selection Committee to do so.
Immediately following the vote, Levin labeled the appointment process “illegitimate to its core” and declared he did not recognize Amit as chief justice, adding that he would not work with him on essential business of the judiciary which requires cooperation between the justice minister and the Supreme Court president.
Levin has announced that he will not attend the ceremony for Amit’s swearing-in next week, as has Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana. Hebrew media has reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will also not attend the event.
Jeremy Sharon and Sam Sokol contributed to this report.
