Justice minister delays meeting of politically fraught judge selection panel
Yariv Levin cites clash with budget vote as reason for move; committee member MK Elharrar label decision ‘excuse,’ urges him to work to appoint judges
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Wednesday postponed a meeting of the Judicial Selection Committee that had been set for the next day, saying that Knesset votes on the supplementary budget for 2023 scheduled for the same day meant it would be impossible to convene the panel, since he and other government and coalition representatives would be unable to attend.
The committee, which selects all judges in Israel, was supposed to have initiated proceedings Thursday for filling open seats on the Supreme Court and possibly to appoint a new Supreme Court president.
A new date for convening the committee has not been set.
The panel met in November for the first time since April 2022, following Levin’s 10-month refusal to convene it, out of a desire to first change its composition to give the government far greater control over judicial appointments.
The efforts to assert government control over the judiciary sparked intense, months-long protests that ceased with the outbreak of war.
Committee member and Yesh Atid MK Karine Elharrar described Levin’s rationale for postponing the meeting as “an excuse that fell like a ripe fruit for the minister,” and called on him to immediately set a new date for convening the panel.
“He must compose himself for the gravity of this moment, and the severe shortage of judges, and work toward professional and independent appointments for the benefit of the Israeli people.”
Judicial overhaul protest organizers also cast the postponement over the budget as an “excuse,” in a post on X.
At the last meeting, The Times of Israel learned that most of the time was taken up by a dispute between the committee members over filling the open spot on the Supreme Court recently vacated by former chief justice Esther Hayut.
Levin and Minister of Settlements and National Missions Orit Strock argued that it was inappropriate to deal with what they said was the sensitive and divisive issue of appointing a Supreme Court justice amid the ongoing war.
Levin is also reportedly opposed to appointing a new Supreme Court president.
In a never before broken but unwritten tradition, the role of chief justice role is awarded to the most senior justice on the bench, which is Justice Yitzhak Amit, considered to lean toward the liberal side of the bench. Levin is said to seek a more conservative-leaning judge to line up with the government’s values.
The committee also established two subcommittees to begin reviewing candidates for the dozens of empty judgeships and agreed to reconvene on February 20, February 25 and April 17 to advance the selection process and potentially make appointments.
Levin is apparently willing to move forward with lower court appointments.
According to the Israel Courts Administration, there were 20 unfilled judgeships in September, but that figure is set to rise to 53 open positions by the end of the year due to retiring judges and 10 new positions created under the 2023 budget.
Hayut retired on October 16, but Levin has been reluctant to schedule a vote for a successor since the coalition has only three guaranteed votes on the nine-member committee and he would therefore be unable to control the outcome of such a vote.
The committee is composed of nine members, including Levin, Strock, MK Yitzhak Kroizer, Elharar, Acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman, Supreme Court Justices Isaac Amit and Daphne Barak-Erez, and Israel Bar Association representatives Muhamad Naamneh and Ilana Saker.
Appointments to the lower courts require five votes, while Supreme Court appointments need seven.
