Top judge warns lawyers not to curry favor from politicians

Supreme Court President Esther Hayut on Sunday reprimanded Israeli judges for having independent contacts with politicians to help advance their careers.

“This is not a flattering image, to say the least,” Hayut wrote in her first letter to court presidents, following an exposé on the Channel 12 show, Uvda, last week, that appeared to show judges lobbying politicians in an effort to advance their careers.

“The politicization of the judicial system can completely undermine its foundations as an independent and self-reliant system,” she said.

“I intend to do everything possible to protect the independence of the judiciary and to prevent it from becoming politicized.”

In the exposé, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked admitted that a close relationship between prospective judges and politicians would help her to achieve her goals. Shaked has been working for more influence over Supreme Court appointments in a bid to shift the political color of court, which she perceives as too liberal.

Hayut’s strongly worded letter appears to be continuing the efforts of her predecessor, Miriam Naor, to ensure the independence of the judiciary against political efforts to hobble it or exert influence over it.

“The judiciary respects the legislative branch and the executive branch,” Naor said in a final interview as chief justice last month. “Contrary to the way things are sometimes made to appear, we rule according to the law. Thus, I think that during my time in office unnecessary statements were made that should not have been voiced.”