The Committee to Appoint Judges, in its new, more nationalist composition, has asked the Justice Minister to present it with additional candidates to fill vacant Supreme Court positions.
MKs Uri Ariel and David Rotem – both religious residents of Judea and Samaria – are the newest members of the committee. Together with Justice Minister Yaakov Ne’eman, Environment Minister Gilad Erdan, and Attorney Pinchas Marinski, this gives the nine-member committee a distinct nationalist tilt for the first time in memory.
However, according to a new law, a candidate can become a Supreme Court justice only if seven out of nine members approve him or her.
Only Two Candidates
As of now, the committee has been presented with only two candidates to become Supreme Court justices: Yosef (Sefi) Elon, of the Be’er Sheva District Court, and Tel Aviv District Court Judge Uzi Fogelman. Both served as temporary appointments on the Supreme Court for a year ending in April 2008.
Elon, son of former Supreme Court Deputy President Menachem Elon, is also the brother of Rabbi Moti Elon and ex-MK Rabbi Benny Elon; Sefi is considered the “left-winger” of the family, and is favored by Minister Ne’eman. Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch favors Fogelman.
Among the candidates the committee would like to consider, according to the letter it sent Ne'eman, are Jerusalem District Court judges Moshe Drori and Noam Solberg, Tel Aviv District Court judge Yeshayahu Shneller, and Prof. Rabbi Dov Frimer.
The Supreme Court currently numbers 12 justices, but by law it must have 15. The 12 are: President Dorit Beinisch, Deputy President Eliezer Rivlin, and Justices Ayala Procaccia, Edna Arbel, Esther Chayot, Miriam Naor, Elyakim Rubenstein, Chanan Meltzer, Yoram Dantziger, Edmond Levi, Salim Jubran, and Asher Grunis.