Smotrich says changes to Judicial Selection Committee next step in overhaul

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says that the government’s next step in its controversial judicial overhaul will be to change the format of the committee that selects judges.

Speaking at a meeting of his Religious Zionism faction in the Knesset, Smotrich says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “very determined” to press ahead with the reform despite widespread and mounting opposition.

Answering questions, Smotrich says Justice Minister Yariv Levin has convinced Netanyahu that changes to the Judicial Selection Committee are key to safeguarding other elements of the reform, like current efforts to bar judges from using a “reasonableness” test to strike down legislation or government decisions.

“Otherwise the judges will just find another reason, and call it ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’ and use it to intervene in the decisions of the Knesset and government without any legal basis,” he says.