The “important parts” of the judicial reform need to be brought “immediately” for a second and third reading in the Knesset plenum, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated during a meeting of his Otzma Yehudit party on Wednesday morning.
“If there are no agreements then we should stop waiting,” said Ben-Gvir.
The national security minister’s comments came just hours ahead of an important vote in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday that could decide the fate of ongoing talks between Israel’s coalition and opposition over the government’s plans to overhaul the country’s judicial system.
The vote is for the Knesset’s two representatives on the nine-member Judicial Selection Committee, which is responsible for appointing judges at all levels of Israel’s civil court system.
While not required by law, the coalition traditionally votes to occupy one spot on the committee and allows the opposition to occupy the second spot.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks to the press outside the police headquarters during the annual Jerusalem pride march on June 1, 2023 (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)The results of the vote could shatter judicial reform negotiations
Leaders of the opposition parties involved in the judicial reform talks – Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid and National Unity MK Benny Gantz – repeatedly threatened in recent weeks that if the opposition’s candidate, Yesh Atid MK Karin Elharrar, is not elected to the committee, they will leave the talks. A failure in the talks could bring the country back to the turmoil it experienced between January and March, when the coalition tried to advance its reforms one-sidedly.
The vote is anonymous, however, and therefore serves as a test of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership. Netanyahu reportedly prefers that Elharrar be elected so as to increase the chance of at least a partial agreement at the President’s Residence. However, large swaths of his coalition, including Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party, and a number of MKs from the Likud, believe that ceding a spot on the committee would be an unnecessary concession to the opposition, which has not publicly committed to anything in return.
At least one Likud MK, Boaz Bismuth, already announced that he would vote for two coalition candidates. MK Tally Gotliv, who is one of the candidates, is also likely to vote for herself and another coalition candidate.
The Likud promised a spot on the Judicial Selection Committee to Otzma Yehudit in coalition agreements between the two parties that were signed in December. Ben-Gvir’s candidate is MK Yizhak Kroyzer. Gotliv announced that she would not remove her name from the list of candidates, meaning that the prime minister has no way to ensure ahead of time that Elharrar will be elected.
According to current law, the committee includes three High Court justices, one of whom is the chief justice; two ministers, one of whom is the justice minister; two Knesset members; and two representatives of the Israel Bar Association (IBA). One of the judges, ministers, MKs and IBA representatives must each be a woman.
The Supreme Court members of the committee are Chief Justice Esther Hayut, Justice Uzi Fogelman and Justice Yizhak Amit; the second minister has yet to be chosen, but Ynet reported on Monday that Netanyahu was considering appointing National Missions Minister Orit Struk (Religious Zionist Party); and the Israel Bar Association is voting for its chairperson and executive committee on June 20, and will choose its representatives on the committee soon after.
The committee’s makeup has long been a contentious issue
The makeup of the committee is one of the most contentious issues in the government’s judicial reforms.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin and other proponents of the judicial reforms argue that the Bar Association members have an interest in siding with the judges before whom they appear in court. This gives the judges a de facto majority in the committee and the ability to choose whomever they see fit. Levin argued that the elected representatives of the people should be the ones appointing the nation’s judges, and therefore proposed to amend the committee’s makeup such that the coalition has a majority.
The opposition, however, argued that giving the coalition complete power over judicial appointments will turn these appointments into part of the political give-and-take, and thus create a system where judges are chosen due to their political affiliations and not their skill or expertise.
Even under the current makeup, however, Levin still could gain significant control over the committee if he succeeds in electing the next Chief Justice, as current chief justice Hayut is retiring in October.
The committee has the statutory power to elect the chief justice. However, traditionally, the supreme court justices agree only to put forward as a candidate the name of the most senior judge. This is known as the “Seniority Method”, and the next in line is liberal judge Amit.
Former IBA head Efi Naveh, who is one of the contenders again to lead the association, is considered closer to Levin than his main competitor, Amit Becher. Should Naveh win the election, he could side with Levin, the second minister on the committee, and the Knesset representatives, in order to have a 5-4 majority and appoint a more friendly chief justice.
However, in order to do this, Levin would need both Knesset representatives to come from the coalition, and therefore the outcome of the Judicial Selection Committee vote could also affect Levin’s long-term influence, and could even lead to his resignation.
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