As expected the committee for selection of judges could not reach agreement Friday on nominees for three openings on the bench of the High Court of Justice. At the opening of the meeting, committee member Gilad Erdan expressed pessimism at the prospect of reaching a decision because no agreements were reached in earlier discussions.

While members of the committee say that the politics of the candidates does not matter, the stalemate has been blamed on differences between liberal-leaning veterans on the committee and recently-elected conservatives who have given the political right its first majority in years. There were also differences regarding the pace of filling the forthcoming vacancies.

As was the case in the committee's first meeting, the panel used the time to confirm criteria for selecting judges and will meet soon to proceed with the task of filling the vacancies.