Justice minister seeks new Supreme Court candidates to break appointments deadlock

Justuce Minister Gideon Sa’ar has reopened a window for new candidates to be added to a list of possible Supreme Court nominees.

The move comes after members of the committee tasked with judicial appointments have repeatedly failed to agree on candidates from the existing list.

The selection panel — made up of Sa’ar, Hayut, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, MKs Efrat Rayten and Simcha Rothman, Supreme Court justices Uzi Vogelman and Isaac Amit, and two Israel Bar Association attorneys — was unable to reach any agreement to select four names from the 24 potential candidates for the jobs.

Shaked and Rothman are lobbying for more conservative-leaning judges to be appointed, while Hayut and other members of the panel have been pushing for liberal justices. Members of the Israel Bar Association have also been pushing for one of the seats to be filled by an attorney, not a judge.

New candidates must be added to the list by January 6 midday, according to a statement Sa’ar sends to the appointments committee.

Earlier this month, Sa’ar made the rare move of appointing a temporary judge to the bench, due to gridlock in the selection panel.