Likud MK Ofir Katz appointed to panel that selects judicial ombudsman
At the same time, Constitution, Law and Justice Committee cancels vote to appoint Knesset representative to committee responsible for selecting and firing the attorney general
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The Knesset House Committee on Tuesday selected its chairman, Likud MK Ofir Katz, as its representative on the committee that chooses the state ombudsman for judges.
The judicial ombudsman oversees disciplinary procedures against judges. The role involves investigating complaints made about the conduct of judges, including how they manage proceedings over which they preside, how they conduct trials, and any misconduct outside the court.
At the end of such proceedings, the ombudsman can recommend that disciplinary measures be taken against judges and, if necessary, recommend that the Judicial Selection Committee remove a judge from office.
Last month, the Knesset passed a law dramatically changing how the position is filled, creating a new seven-member committee tasked only with the appointment.
The position of ombudsman for judges has been vacant since May 2024 after the last officeholder, Uri Shoham, retired.
The law is widely seen as giving lawmakers a greater say in how the justice system is run, giving the coalition a majority on the panel while removing the influence of the judiciary and the opposition from the process — something that has prompted accusations that the appointment and the judiciary are being politicized.
The committee for appointing the ombudsman comprises seven members including the justice minister, who will chair the panel; the labor minister; an MK to be chosen by the Knesset; a retired judge to be chosen by the Supreme Court; a retired judge to be chosen by the presidents of the district courts; a retired rabbinical courts judge to be chosen by the chief rabbis; and the public defender.
Any member of the committee will be empowered to nominate two candidates. The committee will then choose a new ombudsman based on a majority vote.
The choice of Katz, a Likud MK who is also coalition whip, comes after Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party announced that it had withdrawn its lawmakers’ candidacies for spots on the committee and a second panel tasked with appointing the attorney general because it would “not take part in the continued systematic destruction of the judicial system and the dismantling of the status of gatekeepers.”
The move to overhaul the selection of the ombudsman came only weeks before the passage of another key judicial overhaul bill changing the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee, increasing political power and influence over the appointment of judges.
It also comes amid efforts to fire Ronen Bar, the chief of the Shin Bet security agency — which is currently investigating members of Netanyahu’s inner circle over alleged ties between them and Qatar — and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
Last month, the cabinet voted unanimously in favor of a no-confidence motion against Baharav-Miara, in a move designed by the government to hasten her dismissal from office.
This process was temporarily delayed on Tuesday afternoon, however, when Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism) canceled a planned vote to choose the Knesset’s representative on the five-member public committee that is responsible for appointing the attorney general and plays a substantial role in her dismissal process as well.
The discussion and vote were first postponed and then canceled after the coalition failed to agree on a single compromise candidate out of several coalition lawmakers who submitted their candidacies for the role.
Among the MKs in the running for the position were Katz of the Likud, Religious Zionism MK Ohad Tal, Otzma Yehudit’s Yitzhak Kroizer and Noam’s Avi Maoz.
The committee comprises a former Supreme Court justice chosen by the president of the court with the agreement of the justice minister; a former justice minister or attorney general chosen by the government; an MK chosen by the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee; a representative of the Israel Bar Association (IBA); and a law professor chosen by the deans of Israel’s university law faculties.
The committee is currently missing a former justice minister or attorney general and an MK. Filling these empty spots is a necessary prerequisite to ousting Baharav-Miara, as the cabinet resolution that governs the process explicitly states that the matter must be discussed by the committee before it is brought to the government.
In a statement to the press, a spokesperson for the committee said that “the selection process is starting over” and that a new date for the vote would be set, “which will be published at least two weeks in advance, and nominations will be allowed up to a week before the selection date.”
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.
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