JERUSALEM: A junior conservative judge launched a bid to become Israel’s Supreme Court chief on Wednesday, an unprecedented move that legal scholars said is another challenge to the tribunal’s independence as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government moves forward with its plan to overhaul the judiciary.
In Israel’s 75-year history, the committee that selects the president of the country’s supreme court has always nominated a chief justice for the post. With the current president of the court, Esther Hayut, set to retire in October, Judge Yosef Elron’s decision to throw his name into the ring as her replacement represents a departure from tradition.
Isaac Amit, the judge slated to replace Hayut under the seniority system, is a liberal who has been on the court for more than a decade. Elron, who joined the court in 2017 and is considered its most conservative judge, is considered a favorite of Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the chief architect of the controversial judicial overhaul.
By breaking with the tradition of appointing seniors, Elron’s bid threatens to further politicize the court as judges potentially compete for committee votes, legal experts say.
“People see this as the next step in the overhaul and serious evidence of change in the judicial system,” said Amir Fuchs, who is a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute. “Once the precedent of seniority passes, then all judges know they are being judged by the coalition in power and their independence is compromised.”
Constitutional law professor Amichai Cohen said that while Elron is unlikely to be elected chief justice, his bid threatens to deepen divisions between liberal and conservative justices ahead of two key decisions next month on limits on the court’s powers.
Levin, a key Netanyahu ally, has sought through legislation in Israel’s parliament to change the composition of the committee that selects the nation’s judges, including the chief justice. As that legislation stalled, Levin refused to convene a committee.
The Court will be hearing petitions challenging Levin’s decision to freeze committee meetings this month. The court will also hear challenges to the first judicial review measure approved by Netanyahu’s government in July.
Supporters of Netanyahu’s ultra-right ultra-Orthodox government say the law will prevent liberal, unelected judges from interfering with the decisions of elected lawmakers. They also say the court should not be able to rule on a law limiting its own jurisdiction.
The fix sparked months of massive protests and if the court strikes down the new legislation, Netanyahu’s government could ignore the ruling, setting the stage for a crisis over who has ultimate authority.
