High Court Justice Alex Stein accuses Justice Minister Yariv Levin of stymying the justice system to such a degree that murderers are walking free due to a shortage of judges.
“The justice minister bears responsibility,” Stein says during a High Court hearing on Levin’s refusal to convene the Judicial Selection Committee, according to a Ynet transcript.
“There is rampant crime in the south. This is a court that handles murder cases and organized crime, and there are murder defendants who have been freed,” Stein says of the Beersheba District Court, which he says is short six judges, which has led to delays in criminal proceedings. “In my view, this is truly a crisis.”
Last week, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara accused Levin in a court filing on the case of assuming “out of thin air” the authority to veto judicial appointments.
The justice minister has failed to convene the nine-member committee since January 2025 and has sought to avoid doing so until after the general election scheduled for this October, when a March 2025 law takes effect, increasing political influence over judicial appointments.
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