Against the background of the opposition's concern that Yariv Levin does not intend to convene the Judicial Selection Committee in its current format even after Knesset representatives are elected, Israel Hayom received quotes in which the justice minister was heard expressing his lack of confidence in the process of selecting judges in the committee.
Levin told political sources in recent days, "There will be no appointments of judges using the Ayelet Shaked method, I don't believe in this approach to making appointments. What matters to me is not one appointment or another, but a fundamental correction of the system."
When Levin says that there will be no appointments using the Ayelet Shaked method, he means that he will not agree to appoint judges in "deals" with the judges, while the government and the justices mutually veto judges that are too liberal for the coalition's taste, and judges that are too conservative for the judges' tastes will be disqualified. As part of the "deal" that was accepted until now, the appointment of a liberal judge was made against a conservative judge acceptable to the judges - as Ayelet Shaked did during her tenure.
Esther Hayut, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Levin's quote also illustrates his distrust of the selection of judges within the framework of the committee that is expected to be established, and he emphasizes that he is not interested in the power to make appointments alone, but in fundamentally changing the system. Levin, it seems, has not given up on his intention to change the composition of the committee, even though it seems that at least for the foreseeable future, the chances of that happening are low.
From these quotes, it can be assumed that Levin will not rush to convene the committee and reach broad agreements, but will act to try to appoint two new Supreme Court justices on his behalf only, after the upcoming retirement of President Hayut and Justice Anat Baron this October. For that to happen, he will have to reach agreements with President Hayut. It should be noted that the two have already made many appointments together in a variety of positions in the judicial system, and they meet every week. But the question is whether Hayut will agree – before she retires – to approve two conservative appointments as Levin wants. We will know the answer only in the summer months.
Saar to Levin: "You will be hospitalized"
Meanwhile, last night Justice Minister Levin lost patience in the plenum, in a sharp confrontation between him and his predecessor, MK Gideon Sa'ar. In a discussion on anchoring the principle of equality in Basic Law: Human Dignity, Levin attacked Sa'ar, saying: "Every moment you make declarations that 'if the coalition advances this or that law, then we will withdraw from the talks.' But you are running to the plenum to support this proposal, which is part of the issues that are being discussed in the President's House. What hypocrisy is this, what bullying behavior, what unfairness."
Sa'ar replied: "You've been trying to blow up the talks from day one. You just want to destroy the country, we won't let you." Sa'ar also told the justice minister during the confrontation: "Go be hospitalized."
Gideon Saar, Photo: Yoav Ari Dudkiewicz
The bill failed, but Levin's speech did its job. Opposition leader Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party said: "Yesh Atid wishes to clarify that its joining Gilad Kariv's bill stems from an administrative error, and that it will not raise laws related to change in the judicial system as long as dialogue takes place at the president's residence."
Despite the claim of a "technical error" that caused Yesh Atid's support for the proposal, Kariv's proposal was accompanied by a similar proposal by MK Meir Cohen of Yesh Atid, which he explained in the plenary session with the words "it is important."
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