The Judge Selection Committee failed to select any new judges when it convened in Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman’s Jerusalem office Friday for the second session since the appointment of its new members. The committee is deadlocked between nationalists and Court President Dorit Beinisch’s supporters.
The nationalist members of the committee want a right-leaning judge appointed to the Supreme Court, and would be willing to accept two left-leaning candidates along with him. However, Beinisch is apparently unwilling to allow any of the candidates favored by the nationalists into the Supreme Court. MK Uri Ariel estimated at the meeting's end that a compromise would be reached within the next three weeks.
Israel news photo: Flash 90
Both Beinisch and the nationalist members denied, however, that they are motivated by politics. Speaking at a Bar Association conference Thursday, Beinisch said, “A long time ago, we stopped checking sectors and genders [when appointing judges]. There is no religious or Mizrachi seat [in the court bench], nor is there one for a woman. The breakdown is a natural, professional one.”
Bald spots and kippahs
MK Uri Ariel (National Union) said that he, too, looked only at the candidates’ professional merit. “The best judges must be appointed. I do not care if the appointee has a bald spot, what size it is and whether it shines in the sun. And if he covers it with something, that is not a problem,” he told Army Radio, in a reference to head coverings worn by religious men.
Not good enough for the Supreme Court? Judges Yeshayahu Schneller (L), Noam Solberg (Israel news photo: Israel courts system website)
A law passed in the previous Knesset necessitates a majority of seven out of the committee’s nine members in order to appoint a judge to the Supreme Court. While the committee is largely right-leaning, three of its members are considered leftists: Beinisch, Justice Ayala Procaccia and Bar Association representative Rachel Ben-Ari. If these three reject a candidate, he cannot be appointed.
Beinisch is reportedly insistent that Judge Uzi Fogelman be appointed to the bench and willl probably agree to confirm Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman’s preferred candidate, Judge Yosef Elon. However, the nationalist members of the committee want the third apointment to come from a group of three candidates: Judges Noam Solberg and Yeshayahu Schneller, and Prof. Dov Frimer. Beinisch is unwilling to accept any of these candidates at this point.