Journalist Amit Segal reacted to the High Court hearing on petitions against the law changing the composition of the committee that appoints judges, saying it made him rethink his own camp in the debate over judicial reform. He argued that there is “no such thing as a conservative judge who supports striking down a Basic Law,” and said the hearing moved him from what he called the “Ayelet Shaked method” to the “Yariv Levin method.”
Segal was responding to Supreme Court President Justice Isaac Amit, who spoke of the danger of judges having a political “chip” and of the public labeling them as left or right. Segal said that no one in Israel באמת thinks Amit is politically neutral. “Everyone knows which government he supports and which government he does not support, and from where his decisions are derived,” Segal said. He added that Amit himself has acknowledged this in rulings, citing a Civil Service Commissioner case in which Amit reversed his own decision because “this time it is a different government.”
Segal then described the long-running right-wing argument over how to influence the judiciary. He said the Shaked approach favors gradual change through appointments and compromises, while Levin’s approach seeks broader systemic change. “I was basically in favor of Ayelet Shaked’s approach, in favor of compromises,” he said, but added that after the hearing he was no longer sure she was right.
He also addressed the law itself, saying he does not love it and does not think it will necessarily produce more conservative judges. Still, he noted that the law to change the judges-selection committee passed all three Knesset readings with 67 votes and is set to take effect only in the next Knesset. “If this court strikes down this law,” he warned, “it should not complain later when the backlash is much harsher.”
