Justice Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin launched a sharp attack on Supreme Court President Isaac Amit on Sunday, amid a High Court hearing over the judges selection committee. Levin accused the court of using its power to block qualified candidates for political reasons, and said the current fight reflects a broader struggle over who controls appointments and constitutional authority.
Levin disputed Amit’s decision to convene the hearing, calling it unauthorized, and suggested that claims about “political considerations” in judicial appointments were being used to defend the veto the judges allegedly exercised over Dr. Bakshi and Dr. Biton for the Supreme Court. He said the reforms he advanced in the committee were meant to end a long-standing pattern in which Supreme Court justices rejected excellent candidates for personal and political reasons. “For years Supreme Court justices rejected, for non-substantive reasons, the promotion of excellent candidates, only for political and personal considerations, because they were not theirs,” he said. “The new law puts an end to this situation.”
Levin also urged Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and MK Avichai Boaron to advance their joint proposal, which would state that the High Court has no authority to intervene in Basic Laws and that any intervention in the amendment dealing with the judicial selection committee is void. He called for immediate public pressure to bring the proposal to a vote.
During the hearing, Amit suggested changing the committee’s balance by removing two political representatives instead of two representatives of the bar association. MK Tally Gotliv interrupted and was removed from the courtroom. Amit then reportedly warned, “If not, the Supreme Court will be extinguished,” and declined to elaborate further, saying, “Sorry sir, you may continue.” The hearing was part of an ongoing deadlock after a previous High Court ruling ordered Levin to convene the committee.
