Levin challenges Amit to let him appoint his candidates to Supreme Court if he’s sincere about ‘extending his hand’

Justice Minister Yariv Levin says that if Supreme Court President Isaac Amit is sincere about “extending his hand” to Levin to resolve the frozen relations between the two, he should allow the appointment of two conservative legal scholars to the Supreme Court, which the justice minister has been pursuing since the beginning of his term in office.

“Judge Amit, if your words are sincere, then it’s basically very simple. Respect the government and the Knesset, remove the ‘no’ you have placed on the fitting candidates Dr. Aviad Bakshi and Dr. Raphael Bitton,” says Levin, continuing his refusal to refer to Amit as Supreme Court president.

“The ball is in your court,” he adds.

A spokesperson for Levin declined to say whether Levin would in return recognize Amit as Supreme Court president should Bakshi and Bitton be appointed to the court.

Levin’s comments come in response to remarks by Amit today that he continues to “extend a hand” to the justice minister, despite Levin’s refusal to recognize him as Supreme Court president since his appointment in January last year.

Levin has refused to make appointments to the Supreme Court for the entire duration of his tenure, because he has lacked the votes on the Judicial Selection Committee to get Bakshi or Bitton appointed.

His boycott of the Supreme Court president actually precedes Amit’s appointment. He had refused to meet with acting Supreme Court president Uzi Vogelman since mid-2024 when Vogelman refused to abandon the seniority system for appointing the Supreme Court president.