Otzma Yehudit submits bill to increase political control over judicial appointments

The No. 2 MK in the far-right Otzma Yehudit party submits a bill to make the majority of members of the Judicial Selection Committee political appointees.

The nine-member Judicial Selection Committee currently comprises four politicians, two representatives of the Israel Bar Association, and three current Supreme Court justices. The bill by MK Yitzhak Wasserlauf would nix the Bar appointees in favor of two lawyers recommended by the justice minister and approved by the government.

Wasserlauf’s proposed bill states that that it is meant to correct the “moral distortion” it believes comes from having the Bar Association play a role in appointing judges in a way that does not “represent all of the Israeli public.”

The legislation seeks to transfer that power from the Bar’s national council to the justice minister, a position expected to be held in the next government by Likud.