High Court postpones hearing on PM’s right to appoint new Shin Bet chief

The High Court of Justice postpones a hearing for a petition against the attorney general’s position that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a conflict of interest in appointing a new Shin Bet chief.

A hearing had been scheduled for Wednesday, but president of the court Isaac Amit says it cannot be held since the courts are currently on an emergency footing, meaning only urgent proceedings can be held.

The hearing will be scheduled for next week instead, Amit decides.

The High Court ruled in May that Netanyahu had a conflict of interest in firing then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar in March due to criminal investigations the security agency was conducting, together with the police, against the prime minister’s close aides. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara then issued a legal position paper determining that Netanyahu therefore had a conflict of interest in appointing a new head of the Shin Bet, which has delayed the process for replacing Bar.

The deputy Shin Bet chief known only by his first initial “Shin” is currently serving as acting head.

A right-leaning grouping of families bereaved by terror attacks called Choose Life petitioned the High Court against the attorney general’s position.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin lambastes Amit’s decision to delay the hearing, arguing that the appointment of a permanent Shin Bet chief during a time of war is urgent, and says that the court’s involvement in the appointment of the head of the security service is doing “mortal harm” to state security.

“Judge Amit’s decision today adds to the cumulative damage caused by High Court judges to state security, and to the ongoing damage caused by Judge Amit himself in his repeated attempts to tie the hands of the government in managing security matters,” declares Levin.