10 Supreme Court justices withdraw candidacies after Levin nominated them for president without consent

All Supreme Court justices other than Isaac Amit and Yosef Elron inform the Judicial Selection Committee that they are retracting their candidacies for Supreme Court president, after Justice Minister Yariv Levin nominated them without their consent for the post earlier this week.

It is not immediately clear, however, whether their candidacy is actually withdrawn. Sources close to Levin point out that by law, the justice minister is entitled to nominate candidates for the position.

Guy Lurie of the Israel Democracy Institute notes that the attempt to force a nomination on Supreme Court justices is “highly irregular,” and questions its legality.

Levin nominated all 12 justices as act of defiance against the Supreme Court which, in its capacity as High Court of Justice, ordered the justice minister earlier this month to call a vote for a new Supreme Court president after he refused to do so for the past 11 months owing to his desire to appoint Elron, a conservative, to the position. Elron’s candidacy doesn’t have majority support in the committee.

Levin’s gambit was designed to further delay the appointment of Amit, a liberal, by having the committee consider and review the candidacy of every serving justice and review submissions from the general public.

Amit is in line to become president in accordance with the seniority system, in place since the court was founded, whereby the justice with the most years on the court becomes its president.