In response to the petition of the Movement for the Quality of Government, the Supreme Court on Tuesday called on Justice Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) to convene the committee for the selection of judges to elect judges and a new Supreme Court president, or they would rule on the issue in early September.
Justices Yael Wilner, Ofer Grosskopf, and Alex Stein informed Levin that “It is clear and obvious that there is no escape from the decision-making mechanism established in Section 7 of the Law regarding the courts.” According to this mechanism, when a vacancy is created in the Supreme Court and new judges must be appointed, the Justice Minister must convene the committee and announce officially who the candidates are.
On Monday, Levin informed the High Court that he was unable to reach an agreement with the Acting President of the Supreme Court, Justice Uzi Fogelman, on the appointment of a permanent president. Fogelman, incidentally, is slated to retire on his 70th birthday, October 6, 2024.
Levin proposed to appoint Judge Yosef Elron to the position for one year – he is slated to retire on September 20, 2025. Fogelman, realizing that the move would interrupt the seniority system according to which court presidents have been appointed by their peers since the court’s inception, replied to Levin’s proposal saying it “hurts in the proper functioning of the justice system, and the service provided to the citizens of the country, and the separation of the branches of government, especially in these difficult and challenging days for the country and its citizens.”
In other words, how dare you walk onto my turf, awarded me by the Almighty since the six days of Creation?
Fogelman also stands by his refusal to appoint either of Levin’s nominees to the high court, Dr. Aviad Bakshi from the Kohelet Forum, and Dr. Rafi Biton who, together with Bakshi, drafted the judicial reform laws.
How dare Levin propose a Supreme Court candidate who doesn’t think like us?
As things stand today, since the president of the Supreme Court must be picked by the committee for the selection of judges by a simple majority of 5 out of 9 committee members, it is likely that, as soon as Levin calls a committee session, it would appoint Justice Yitzhak Amit as president, in keeping with the seniority system.
Advantage judges.
However, the appointment of a new judge to the Supreme Court must be accepted by a majority of at least 7 out of 9 committee members. The coalition currently has three representatives on the committee: Minister Levin, Minister Orit Strook, and MK Yitzhak Kreuzer from Otzma Yehudit, and so the supremes together with the representatives of the Bar Association will not be able to force Levin to appoint their choice.
A tie.
