Yesh Atid lawmaker Karine Elharrar was voted onto the Judicial Selection Committee Wednesday, satisfying a key opposition demand that was initially expected to result in the continuation of negotiations over the government’s reform package.
Concurrently, the coalition voted down the candidacy of Likud Party MK Tali Gottlieb, who had defied Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by refusing to bow out of the race.
Nevertheless, the leaders of the two largest opposition parties announced the suspension of the talks.
Elharrar won the support of 58 MKs and was opposed by 56. Gottlieb was backed by 15 MKs and opposed by 59.
The nine-member Judicial Selection panel is responsible for appointing judges at all levels of Israel’s civil court system. Traditionally, one coalition candidate and one opposition candidate are chosen to fill the seats reserved for parliamentarians.
Netanyahu reportedly favors maintaining the status quo and feared that submitting two coalition candidates, as some partners demanded, would have undermined the negotiations and reignited mass protests.
The premier had promised the coalition’s spot on the committee to Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party as part of their coalition agreement. Otzma’s candidate was MK Yizhak Kroyzer.
In order to guarantee votes in favor of Elharrar and Kroyzer, Netanyahu had ordered other coalition members vying for the position to withdraw their candidacy ahead of the vote.
Gottlieb refused.
As the Judicial Selection Committee vote is by secret ballot, Netanyahu could not enforce coalition discipline and guarantee that both Elharrar and Kroyzer would win the votes.
Netanyahu therefore changed tack and attempted to use a legal technicality to delay the appointments. He asked Kroyzer to withdraw his candidacy, leaving only Elharrar and Gottlieb on the ballot. Then Netanyahu initially instructed coalition members to vote against both candidates, ensuring neither would receive the required plurality.
According to Knesset bylaws, if no candidate receives a plurality in the secret ballot, the vote is delayed for 30 days.
Members of the opposition had threatened to halt negotiations and return to mass protests against the government if Elharrar’s candidacy was not approved and two members of the coalition were appointed.
Evidently, Netanyahu responded by reversing course once again and ensuring that Elharrar was approved and that the coalition voted down Gottlieb’s candidacy.
Another vote to choose the coalition’s representative on the committee will take place within a month’s time.
Despite the apparent concession by Netanyahu, opposition leader Yair Lapid said Wednesday night that he was putting the reform negotiations on hold until the second member of the committee is chosen.
“Once Netanyahu was a fraud and strong. Today he’s a fraud and weak,” said Lapid during a joint press conference with National Unity Party head Benny Gantz.
“Without a committee, there are no talks,” he added.
For his part, Gantz said there was “no reason” to continue the negotiations at present.
“What happened is that the prime minister decided to go against the country. He tried and failed,” said Gantz.
The reform talks under the auspices of President Isaac Herzog were launched after Netanyahu in March postponed legislation on the initiative to give dialogue a chance.
In a video posted to Twitter earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu had urged the opposition to compromise.
“Gantz said yesterday that if the coalition elected two representatives to the Judicial Selection Committee, he would blow up the reform talks. Well, that didn’t happen, but he continues to threaten,” said the premier.
“So, I say to the opposition: Stop the threats, stop the excuses after three months of rejecting every proposal we bring; Sit down with us seriously, enter into a real dialogue and we will finally reach agreements.”
The other seats on the Judicial Selection Committee are automatically given to the justice minister, another Cabinet minister, the president of the Supreme Court and two other justices, and two members of the Israel Bar Association.
However, changes to the makeup of the selection committee are part of the coalition’s judicial initiative. Legislation advancing through the Knesset would also restrict the ability of judges to apply undefined standards of “reasonableness” and limit the authority of government ministries’ legal advisers.
Supporters of the reforms say they want to end years of judicial overreach. JNS
