Hitting back at Supreme Court chief, Levin says ‘sovereignty of the people under wild attack’

In a rejoinder to Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, Justice Minister Yariv Levin says, “What is under wild attack is the sovereignty of the people.”

Levin is responding to Amit’s comments that judicial independence is “under attack” today in both the public and political arenas.

“And by the way, how can you speak at all at a conference of the Israel Bar Association, when you appointed yourself to head the [judicial] panel which is deliberating on the petition of the Bar Association itself against the law that reduces its membership dues,” demands Levin.

“We have already grown used to the principles of conflict of interest having flexibility when it affects you,” snipes Levin.

The justice minister is referring to allegations made against Amit shortly before he was appointed chief justice that he served on several judicial panels on cases in which he had a conflict of interest.

Amit denied the allegations, saying that due to power of attorney arrangements, he had no knowledge of the proceedings in question.