Levin demands 'very broad agreement' on judicial appointments

Justice Minister Yariv Levin said on Thursday that he was withholding high-level judicial appointments not made by “very broad agreement,” despite the law not requiring this and despite a number of vacancies in the court system.

Levin, who spoke at an induction ceremony for newly appointed magistrate court judges and registrars, led the government’s controversial judicial reforms in 2023.

One of its key components was to alter the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee such that the governing coalition would have a majority and thus control judicial appointments.

Who are the current members?

The current makeup includes nine members: Levin, fellow minister Orit Strock, coalition MK Yitzhak Kreuzer (Otzma Yehudit), opposition MK Karine Elharrar (Yesh Atid), three Supreme Court justices, and two members of the Israel Bar Association.

All judicial appointments besides for the Supreme Court require a simple majority, and critics of Levin have argued that his insistence on “broad agreements” was de facto an insistence on appointing judges that were acceptable to the three members of the coalition.

In his speech, Levin said that “it is no secret that there are more than a few disagreements in the question of judicial appointments and the correct way in which to execute them.

“Precisely because of this, and facing the reality of the war, I saw utmost importance in insisting that all of the appointments be made with a very broad agreement,” Levin added.

The appointments made by the Judicial Selection Committee under Levin have nearly all been to low-level judicial positions. Especially notable is the fact that there are two vacancies on the Supreme Court, and that Levin has refused to hold a vote for the Supreme Court chief justice.

The judges themselves traditionally adhere to a seniority system, whereby the chief justice would be Yizhak Amit. Amit, however, is considered a liberal judge and Levin opposes his candidacy.

ccording to a spokesperson for Levin, the non-coalition members of the committee are conditioning the filling of the two Supreme Court vacancies on appointing Amit as chief justice, and there is therefore no timeline as to when this will happen. Justice Uzi Vogelman is serving as interim chief justice in the meanwhile.