Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann announced Monday evening that he would not attempt to appoint new judges to magistrates courts before a new government is elected. Friedmann's announcement followed weeks of highly-publicized verbal battles with members of the High Court, chief among them Justice Dorit Beinisch.
Beinisch and fellow justices Ayala Procaccia and Edmond Levy recently informed Friedmann that they would not attend a meeting of the Judges Election Committee scheduled for Thursday. The committee was to select new magistrates court judges. Without the justices' presence, the committee will be unable to reach the majority necessary to vote in new judges.
The three told Friedmann that they would not agree to appoint new judges until after national elections in February, because, until then, the government is considered a “transition government.” Friedmann accused Beinisch of hypocrisy, saying she herself had been appointed at a time when the country was ruled by a “transition government.” If Beinisch could be elected to the High Court, all the more so judges can be appointed to lower courts, he said.
Friedmann fired a final round of criticism at the justices in his Monday night announcement, saying the meeting was canceled because the justices “gave themselves a day of rest, ignored [the meeting] and behaved as they did.” In failing to attend the meeting, he said, “They eroded the public faith in the High Court, the rule of law, and the rulings given by the Attorney General,” he said. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ruled earlier that the Judges Election Committee may continue to make appointments despite the government's status as “transitional.”
Friedmann said he would not ask Mazuz to rule on the matter again. If the justices ignored Mazuz's first ruling, they would ignore further rulings, he said.
Before admitting defeat, Friedmann tried last week to convince the justices to attend the meeting, and said a failure to appoint new judges would seriously harm the judicial system. The system is already overwhelmed with cases, he said. He accused Beinisch in particular of pursuing “false prestige” at the expense of the court. Beinisch responded only to say that she regretted Friedmann's “unworthy tone” and would not change her mind.