Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked addressed today the decision of the Supreme Court to delay the appointment of Rabbi Eyal Karim as Chief Rabbi of the IDF.
Shaked was asked at the law school of the Academic College of Tzfat about tensions between governmental powers; she noted that “yesterday we saw an example of such tensions.”
According to Shaked, “In administrative decisions we are seeing much more frequent intervention of the Supreme Court. In all reasonableness, such intervention must only be used in very extreme circumstances. Regarding yesterday, I will address the issue in greater detail when the episode comes to a close.”
“I will just say in the spirit of the reply of the government: the IDF Chief of Staff appointed Rabbi Karim under normal procedures, held a hearing for him, and the Defense Minister signed off on the appointment. I don’t think, in that sort of situation, that the Court needs to intervene. The petition should have been summarily rejected. An IDF Chief of Staff who sends soldiers into battle can appoint a chief rabbi, too."
“I expect that judicial authority act as a restraining force, and to take extreme care when intervening in decisions made by the legislative and executive branches,” Shaked emphasized.