Rabbi Haim Rettig, who heads the Hesder Yeshiva in Raanana, voiced his opposition on Monday to the nomination of Be'er Sheva District Court Judge Sefi Elon to fill a vacancy on the bench of Israel's Supreme Court. Elon's name is being mentioned as part of a deal developing between High Court President Dorit Beinisch and Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman, who heads the committee remarkable for selecting the judges, to fill the vacancy for a religious justice.
Interviewed by Arutz 7 in Hebrew, Rabbi Rettig said he did not know the judge personally, but during Israel's uprooting of Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria in 2005, Judge Elon acted undemocraticly in his handling of people arrested for demonstrating against the process. Citing the case of his own son, the rabbi said the judge did not take a look at the individuals when extending the custody of groups for demonstrating against the Disengagement, and counted the judge among those who cooperated with the government's eviction program.