Before a crucial vote on the government’s divisive measures to restructure the court, Israeli politics is once again at a fever pitch.
The makeup of Israel’s judicial selection committee, which is at the centre of the now six-month-old conflict over the country’s democratic future, will be decided by the Knesset when it meets on Wednesday.
Politicians appointed two of the panel’s nine members, to choose judges. In the past, the opposition and the administration have alternated choosing one.
Proposed candidates
The centre-left Yesh Atid MK Karine Elharar has been proposed as a candidate by the opposition, but a number of hardliners in the coalition of religious nationalists led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have asked that both slots be filled by their own MPs.
It is anticipated that whether the status quo will be upheld will show how eager Netanyahu is to advance the hotly contentious judicial reform legislation. He has given conflicting signals about the future of the revamp, but it is still a top priority for his far-right allies and certain Likud party members; giving up on it might jeopardise his coalition.
Netanyahu government’s judicial makeover
The most right-wing administration in Israeli history, led by Netanyahu, took office in late December. His justice minister quickly launched a comprehensive judicial makeover meant to rein in the supreme court’s excessive power and alleged left-leaning bias. Additionally, the actions could aid Netanyahu in avoiding prosecution in his corruption trial, in which he is acquitted of all charges.
Critics argue that the proposals will undermine democratic principles, give politicians excessive authority by allowing them to overturn nearly all court rulings with a simple majority in the Knesset, and politicise the judiciary by increasing the number of MKs on the judicial selection committee.
The ideas’ exposure hurt Israel’s economy, heightened relations with its supporters abroad who were concerned for its democratic stability, and sparked the nation’s biggest-ever protest movement, which included unexpected pressure from the tech industry and military reservists.
As a result of his opposition to the changes, Yoav Gallant, Netanyahu’s defence minister, was fired in late March, igniting a national standstill that prompted the prime minister to announce that the legislation would be postponed until the summer parliamentary session.
Since then, Isaac Herzog, Israel’s symbolic president, has mediated a halting agreement between the government and the opposition, but the talks haven’t produced many tangible results. According to Gadi Eizenkot, an opposition politician, negotiations would come to an end if no one from the opposition was chosen to serve on the judges selection committee.
It is still unclear how the vote will turn out despite heavy opposition lobbying of coalition members who aren’t persuaded, as Netanyahu has kept his opinions on Wednesday’s vote to himself. The reform is not dead, but we are making every effort in talks to establish broad accords, the prime minister said last week in remarks to the Likud party.
The appointment of Elharar, the opposition candidate, to the judicial selection committee in exchange for backing from the opposition for the reinstatement of prominent Ultra-Orthodox politician Aryeh Deri as a cabinet minister, was one possible arrangement proposed in the Hebrew media this week.
In January, not long after the coalition took office, the supreme court decided that Deri could not hold the position of minister due to a prior conviction for tax violations. The incident widened the divide regarding the authority of Israel’s courts.
