Supreme Court chief decries effort to erode court autonomy, calls for dialogue with Levin

The soaring tensions between the executive and judicial branches of government were on full display Thursday as Supreme Court President Isaac Amit and Justice Minister Yariv Levin both attended a swearing-in ceremony for new judges, with the minister refusing to acknowledge the top judge who was appointed against his wishes.

Channel 13 reported ahead of the event that Levin had specified he was not to be seated by Amit, and photos from the event showed two chairs separating them.

Speaking at the ceremony, Amit lamented what he said were attempts to “erode” and “harm” the independence of the judiciary, but said the institution would remain steadfast in the face of attacks on it.

Amit also called on Levin to end his boycott against him and to restore cooperation between the government and the judiciary.

Levin did not respond in kind, addressing President Isaac Herzog and the “honored guests” only, but did express pride in the large number of judges appointed by the Judicial Selection Committee under his chairmanship over the last year.

Levin had actually refused to convene the Judicial Selection Committee for the first 11 months of his tenure as justice minister, due to his desire to first change the makeup of the panel to increase his influence in it and his attempt to prevent the liberal Amit from being confirmed as court president. Eventually, the court, in its seat as the High Court of Justice, forced him to summon the committee and begin making appointments.

Speaking at the ceremony and against the background of the ongoing clash between the government and the judiciary, Herzog implicitly criticized cabinet ministers, MKs and others who have called on the government to ignore Supreme Court rulings. He insisted that there was “an absolute majority” of the public who were “deeply disgusted” by such notions.

At the same time, Herzog acknowledged that there was also a majority of the public who supported institutional changes to the relationship between the government and the judiciary, and said “fruitful dialogue” was needed to address such issues.

Incoming Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg, a conservative who was sworn in during the ceremony, said the country needed “patience and hard work” to resolve the current dispute between the branches of government.

Together with Sohlberg, some 35 judges and court registrars were sworn in during Thursday’s ceremony in the presence of the president, the justice minister, three former Supreme Court heads, serving judges of the Supreme Court and the members of the Judicial Selection Committee.

“The judiciary is facing attempts to erode the institutional strength of the [legal] system and to harm the professional independence of its officeholders,” Amit said, reference to repeated attacks by cabinet ministers and coalition MKs on the Supreme Court and the judicial branch, including growing calls to ignore court rulings when they are unfavorable to the executive or legislative branches.

“Even in the face of attempts to erode the system and undermine its fundamental principles, the judiciary will remain steadfast, and will continue to fulfill its role in serving the public without fear or favor,” Amit continued.

Levin has boycotted the head of the judiciary since he was appointed. Addressing him directly, Amit said he was pleased that the minister was present, adding, “I call on you, Mr. Minister, to return to the path of cooperation with the judiciary.”

Amit also criticized the severe disruptions to a High Court hearing earlier this week, as it reviewed petitions against the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar. The chaos in the courtroom led Amit to suspend proceedings for over an hour.

Amit said those who had carried out the disturbance sought to “prevent the court from exercising its very ability to hold hearings and serve the public,” something he said could not be allowed to stand.

Levin did not acknowledge Amit’s presence at the ceremony during his remarks.  He left the event as soon as he finished his speech due to “work pressures,” according to the ceremony host.

In his remarks, Levin lauded the achievements of the Judicial Selection Committee under his chairmanship in appointing what he said was a record of 196 judges to all courts across the country, apart from the Supreme Court, in one year (the court system had had a major backlog of stalled appointments due to Levin’s refusal to convene the selection committee since early 2023).

He noted that the appointments included “judges and registrars from the center [of the country] and from the periphery — Jews, Muslims, Druze, Christians, religious and non-religious, older, younger, women and men, from the city and from the countryside. A diverse and high-quality human mosaic like no other. When we talk about strengthening the justice system, this is the true way to do it,” he said.

“When we talk about restoring public trust in the legal system, there is no better way than opening up the ranks, giving expression to all [sectors] of the public, to all communities and to all points of view, in order to achieve this positive result.”

Levin has frequently argued that there is not enough diversity in the judiciary and has cited this as a motivation for the controversial legislation to change up judicial appointments, which he forced through the Knesset last month.

Critics of the justice minister pointed out Thursday that it was through the existing selection process that the many diverse appointments noted by Levin were made.

Herzog, in his comments, bemoaned the ongoing tensions between the judiciary and the government and called for “dialogue” and an effort to “find the golden path” to resolve the deep-seated, ideological dispute.

“There is an absolute majority of the public that is deeply disgusted by alarming calls — for civil war, for refusing to obey the law, and for refusing to abide by court rulings,” said Herzog.

Levin said earlier this week that if the High Court of Justice ruled to keep Shin Bet chief Bar in office, the government should boycott the top security official, a proposal that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and others in the cabinet voiced support for.

Levin’s boycott of Amit stems from a January ruling by the High Court that ordered the justice minister to hold a vote on appointing a new court president after he refused to do so for nearly 16 months. Levin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu absented themselves from Amit’s swearing-in ceremony in protest.