Judge in Netanyahu trial and wife of PM’s chief of staff, also a judge, get promotions

The presiding judge in the corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has received a promotion, as has the wife of a senior member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s staff, the Court Administration said Wednesday.

Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman will become a senior justice in the Jerusalem District Court, where the premier’s trial is ongoing.

In addition, Judge Nava Braverman, wife of Tzachi Braverman, Netanyahu’s chief of staff, will be promoted from the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court to the Tel Aviv District Court.

The appointments were approved by Supreme Court President Esther Hayut. In addition to Hayut they also required the approval of Justice Minister Yariv Levin, but he was unable to sign off on the promotions as he is a senior member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, presenting a conflict of interest, the Court Administration said.

The cabinet instead approved Jerusalem Affairs Minister Amichai Eliyahu of the far-right Otzma Yehudit Party to have authority to finalize the appointments instead.

Last month the Haaretz newspaper reported that Braverman, Netanyahu’s chief of staff, once threatened members of the Judicial Selection Committee with the advancement of bills to weaken the justice system if his wife was not promoted.

Haaretz said Braverman had attempted on several occasions in recent years to advance from her post at Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, but had received poor professional reviews that blocked her from moving to the next echelon.

Both Bravermans denied the report.

Levin, the architect of the government’s judicial overhaul program, has sought greater political control over judicial appointments to rebalance the court, in his words, by placing conservative justices on the bench, after years of alleged progressive activism.

In the meantime, he has refrained from convening the country’s Judicial Selection Committee, prompting the opposition’s Yesh Atid party and the Movement for Quality Government in Israel watchdog to petition the High Court of Justice on Tuesday, demanding that it order him to assemble the panel.