Senior coalition officials told Israel Hayom that since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants an achievement for the right when it comes to the various outlines that come up on the table from time to time regarding the legal reform, "we want to change the composition of the judicial selection committee, and then we are prepared to freeze the rest of the legal legislation for a long and prolonged period of time, of a year – or even longer."
Netanyahu took off for the UN General Assembly in New York without the coalition being able to present a unilateral outline for the continuation of the legal legislation, after a week of frantic consultations on the issue. In the meantime, the coalition is trying to exhaust the channel of negotiations for a compromise with the president's team, in an attempt to reach an outline that will allow Benny Gantz to be brought to the negotiating table.
Netanyahu to Gantz: "We can reach an agreement, let's talk" // Photo: Likud Spokesperson's Office
The president's compromise in recent weeks, which Gantz defined as a "basis for discussion," was rejected by the coalition after it was leaked to the media, even though in his speech before Rosh Hashanah the president said that the proposal also had broad support from elements in the coalition.
Last week we reported in Israel Hayom that as part of the unilateral compromise discussions held by Netanyahu and the coalition leaders, the possibility of an integrated compromise outline is being considered, which would include both the president's compromise of recent weeks and a change in the composition of the judicial selection committee.
Veto power in committee
According to the proposal that arose in the internal discussions of the coalition, in the first stage, in the current term, only the majority required to elect judges will be changed, so that the committee will remain in its current composition, but all appointments, including the president of the Supreme Court and the justices of the Supreme Court, district and peace, will be accepted by a majority of seven members, at least one of them from the opposition and one from the coalition. Thus, in effect, the justice minister and the coalition will have veto power over all appointments, as proposed in the president's compromise on the committee in recent weeks.
Will they compromise on the judicial selection committee? Netanyahu and Hayut, Photo: Oren-Ben-Hakon
At the same time, a law will be passed that will change the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee so that it will include three opposition representatives, three coalition representatives and three Supreme Court justices – while representatives of the Bar Association will be excluded from the committee and will not sit on it.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us