Opposition Chairman Yair Lapid announced that Karin Elharer is the candidate from the Yesh Atid party for the committee to select judges, but the state camp claims that it is too early to talk about the identity of the representatives to the committee. In the Labor Party, MK Efrat Raiten considers herself suitable for this selection.
During the meeting of the party faction of Yesh Atid, Lapid said that “I also discussed this with the other members of the opposition and I believe we can reach an agreement on this.” He also clarified that “as soon as there is a committee, it is the committee for this Knesset, and the discussion moves to the next Knesset.” This was also one of the arguments put forward by the coalition in favor of the postponement, according to which if members are elected to the committee and then the coalition wants to change its composition, they will argue against it that the law should only operate in the next term – since the members of the committee have already been elected according to the existing law. Another concern expressed is the submission of petitions to the High Court in the event that the committee for the selection of judges is appointed but does not begin its activity.
In response to our question regarding the identity of the candidate, the state camp replied that “the cart is not put before the horse”. During the meeting of the faction, the chairman of the party, Benny Gantz, said: “I see the talks that are taking place these days at the president’s house as of utmost importance for democracy, our resilience, our security. We hope and work so that there will be progress, and we constantly remember – that reaching agreements that will preserve democracy is critical.” As for the Prime Minister’s warning that if no agreements are reached, they will appoint two representatives in the coalition on their behalf, and give up the opposition representative who made it clear that “if there is anyone who will play games – he will harm the citizens of Israel, and he will bear responsibility and the consequences.”
Meanwhile, in the Labor Party, MK Efrat Raiten – who served for about a year and a half as a member of the committee for the appointment of judges in the Bennet-Lapid government, can continue serving in the current term as well, and there is a high chance that she will also submit a candidacy, but at the moment the matter has not yet been decided.
Earlier, the coalition decided, despite the desire of the Minister of Justice, not to postpone the appointment of the representatives of the committee for the appointment of judges – which would have required a change to the Knesset’s statutes for that purpose, but to choose the committee representatives already in the coming month.
MK Ze’ev Elkin tweeted about his first victory in the battle for the committee for the appointment of judges. “Today is the last day to amend the statutes, and according to the publications the coalition has surrendered and the elections this time will not be postponed and will be held in accordance with the existing law.” The Cabinet Secretary, Yossi Fox, replied to him with a tweet that he later deleted Short in which he wrote: “I thought to Tomi that the representatives of your faction in the talks at the president’s house, come with a real desire to reach an agreement on changing the composition of the committee for the selection of judges… and not to “win the coalition” and here the awl is out of the bag.”
According to the current formula of the composition of the committee for the selection of judges, apart from two ministers, including the minister of justice, the Knesset plenum chooses by secret ballot its two representatives to the appointment committees. In the coalition agreement signed between Otzma Yehudit and Likud, the representative on behalf of the coalition was reserved for Ben-Gvir’s party, but MK Tali Gottlieb (Likud) recently said that she will also submit a nomination to form a “blocking block against the appointment of Judge Yitzhak Amit as president of the Supreme Court”. The opposition chooses the other.
