Former justice minister Dan Meridor tore into the current Justice Minister Prof. Daniel Friedmann Friday at a legal conference in Caesarea, prompting a counterattack from Likud Knesset Members.
"We have lost this battle," Meridor said, in what was taken by commentators as a reference to Friedmann's term as minister. "I do not remember such terrible destruction of the public's faith in the court system, and such complaints against the system," he said. "If it were up to me, I would completely sever ties between the system and the Justice Minister… because of what is happening today," he said. This all-out offensive was surprising, observers said, because Meridor is generally considered very soft-spoken, even too mild-mannered.
Likud MK Michael Eitan said in response: "These statements by Dan Meridor are not acceptable to me and to most Likud members. If Meridor wants to change the Likud's positions, the right way to go ab
"Unfortunately, the court system has earned the public criticism of it fairly and squarely."
out this is not through press leaks but by discussion within the Likud's institutions and by accepting the decision of the majority."
MK Gilad Erdan said: "Almost all of Minister Friedmann's reforms are right and justified, and the Likud supports them. Unfortunately, the court system has earned the public criticism of it fairly and squarely. Instead of looking for others to blame and making any disagreement into a personal argument, the system and those in charge of it would do better to restore the public's confidence by carrying out the needed reforms within it."
Justice Minister Friedmann, who was appointed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on a Kadima slot, has been the target of fierce attacks by judges past and present since he began implementing agenda of reform in the court system. He has also been attacked by politicians, mostly from the left, but has enjoyed some support from Likud MKs who favor limiting the Supreme Court's powers in matters that they believe are for legislators to decide.
Friedmann himself responded by saying that the loss of public trust in the courts originated with decisions taken by the High Court and by deeds done by the court system." Sources close to him said that if Meridor's opinions are so different from the Likud's he should not have joined that party.