Ahead of Wednesday’s election of MKs to serve on the Committee to Appoint Judges, the coalition plans to offer a deal to opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz: electing Yesh Atid MK Karin Elharar as the opposition’s representative on the committee, in exchange for the opposition’s support on curbing both the judges’ consideration of reasonableness and the authority of the government ministries’ legal counselors, Maariv reported Monday morning.
Meanwhile, according to Israel Hayom, Justice Minister Yariv Levin sounded particularly discouraged on Sunday, and coalition members who spoke with him said that he is in “total despair.”
According to the second report, Levin expressed a complete lack of interest in the committee and said: “I’m not interested in the committee. As far as I’m concerned, having two opposition representatives would be better. That way they’ll understand that we’re a joke, that’s how we’ll illustrate the magnitude of the absurdity that we are in power, but we’re not promoting this matter.”
Hanoch Milwidsky who is on Likud’s negotiating team at the talks in the president’s residence, on Sunday said that the reasonability and the legal counselors’ legislations, about which there is an agreement between the two sides, should be enacted in short order. According to him, “We paid enough good faith fees, and the time has come for actions. And the actions should be mutual.”
Coalition officials told Maariv that in the event that neither of the two ideas becomes a mutually agreed bill, the coalition would pick both Knesset representatives on the committee, one of whom would resign if and when an agreement is reached.
But Shas has already made it clear that the party’s candidate, MK Uriel Busso, does not intend to withdraw his candidacy. Likewise, Likud MK Tali Gottlieb clarified that she intends to fight to the end.
