Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked's surge in popularity continued on Monday as she was named Israel's most influential person by 'The Marker', a widely- respected business daily.
The newspaper published three articles explaining its decision, which will appear on in it's Rosh Hashana edition. In explaining the move, The Marker pointed to her outsized influence on the Supreme Court, her consistent political success and the fact that she has appointed a third of all Israel's justices.
"In her natural ministerial field, the appointment of judges, Shaked succeeded phenomenally. During her term of office, six of the 15 Supreme Court justices were appointed, and the vast majority of them have a conservative and non-interventionist worldview," wrote The Marker legal analyst Dr. Ido Baum.
Shaked's popularity has been steadily rising since becoming Justice Minister in 2015 due to a rash of right-wing legislation she has promoted and her successful effort to install right-wing justices in the Supreme Court.
A survey publicized by the "Meet the Israeli Press" program last week shows that Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) is the Knesset's most popular minister. beating out party head Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
According to the survey, 57% of Israelis are satisfied with Shaked's performance, representing a 10% rise since January 2016.
Shaked was also selected by Forbes Israel in July as the most influential woman in the Jewish state for the second year in a row, citing the importance of her role as Justice Minister “in every major intersection in Israeli discourse.”
A relative newcomer to Israeli politics, Shaked's meteoric rise has fueled speculation that she will jump to the rival Likud party in order to succeed Prime Minister Netanyahu, with a July poll showing that the Jewish Home party’s second-in-command would lead the Likud to a 33-mandate win if new elections were held today.
In the wake of the survey, however, Shaked said explicitly that she had no intention of bolting the Jewish Home, and would only consider a run for Prime Minister after party chief Naftali Bennett had done so himself.
“Bennett and I work well together. He knows that I’m not going to surprise him like this or in any other fashion,” said Shaked