Some of the Judicial Selection Committee voted on Sunday evening to appoint Yitzhak Amit as the President of the Supreme Court. With only some of its members participating, it appears to be a vote with questionable legal standing.
According to a plain reading of text of the law, the nine-member committee requires the presence of at least seven members to convene a valid meeting for the purpose of selecting judges.
However, the court has reinterpreted this requirement, asserting that it means that while the committee must consist of at least seven members, the meeting itself does not require the attendance of at least seven members. To understand that absurdity, it would appear that according to their interpretation, if only one member showed up to the vote, it would be legitimate, as long as the committee still had seven members on it.
4b) The committee shall be made up of nine members… …The Justice minister is the committee chairman.
4c) The committee is authorized to act with fewer members, as long as there are no fewer than seven.
Coalition members Justice Minister Yariv Levin (and chairman of the committee), Minister Orit Strock, and MK Yitzhak Kroizer boycotted the vote, leaving only six members present at the meeting. Despite this, the vote proceeded, leading to the controversial and illegitimate appointment.
Justice Minister Levin publicly declared that he does not recognize the legitimacy of the vote or the resulting appointment of Justice Amit as Supreme Court president.
Levin, Kroizer and Strock declared this a “sad day for democracy and a sad day for our judicial system.”
Joint Statement by Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Minister of National Missions and Settlement Orit Strock, and MK Yitzhak Kroizer:
Today, the Judicial Selection Committee convened and “elected” the President of the Supreme Court.
We did not participate in the discussion. Electing a Supreme Court President while serious concerns hover over the candidate’s conduct in various cases—such as allegations regarding actions taken in apparent conflicts of interest and illegal construction on his residence, during which contradictory explanations were provided—is a moral disgrace. This decision violates all principles of proper governance and reeks of selective enforcement.
The Israeli public is well aware of the past, even the very recent past, regarding the fate of leading candidates for other senior positions whose appointments were postponed or rejected due to similar allegations.
Even more troubling, this so-called “election” was carried out under an illegal order from the Supreme Court, as part of an inherently unlawful process. This process stripped the Justice Minister of his statutory authority and turned the Judicial Selection Committee into nothing more than a rubber stamp for the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court issued its directive despite there being no real urgency in appointing a President of the Supreme Court. The acting President already holds all the powers of the President. However, the Supreme Court judges hurriedly imposed this appointment through an aggressive and unlawful step.
This is a sad day for democracy and a sad day for our judicial system. A President “elected” in this manner cannot gain the public’s trust, which is essential for the justice system’s very existence.
On behalf of the vast public whose democratic rights were trampled in this illegal process, and whose expectations for a fair and moral judicial system were also violated, we will not cease to act until we fundamentally rectify this disgraceful situation.
It has been recently exposed that Justice Yitzhak Amit has been embroiled in a number of legal and ethical controversies. It was revealed that he had engaged in illegal construction on his property, concealed his real name on official documentation to that end, and presided over cases in which he had potential conflicts of interest. These issues have further fueled the debate over his appointment and the legitimacy of the Judicial Selection Committee’s actions.
Knesset Speaker MK Amir Ohana (Likud) called the vote “crooked”.
MK Simcha Rothman, chairman of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee posted, “On an evening like this, all that remains is to wish Acting President of the Supreme Court Yitzhak Amit that, upon conclusion of the investigation into the allegations against him, it will be revealed that he is innocent.”
בערב שכזה כל שנותר לעשות הוא לאחל לממלא מקום נשיאת בית המשפט העליון יצחק עמית שבסיום בירור החשדות נגדו יתברר שהוא חף מפשע.
— שמחה רוטמן – Simcha Rothman (@rothmar) January 26, 2025
