At the conclusion of a discussion that lasted several hours, the heads of the coalition parties decided on Sunday night that the legislation amending the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee will be completed by the end of the current Knesset session.
The heads of the parties decided that the amendment to the legislation regarding the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee will be approved before Passover, based on the composition presented on Sunday in the Constitution Committee.
That proposal states that, for the first time, the automatic veto of the judges who are members of the Judicial Selection Committee will be abolished so that balance and diversity in the composition of the Supreme Court will be possible. The representatives of the Israel Bar Association will be removed from the committee.
It was also decided that the rest of the legislative articles of the judicial reform will be submitted for approval at the beginning of the summer session of the Knesset, at the end of the recess.
The heads of the coalition parties called on the opposition to take advantage of the month-long recess period, during which legislative procedures cannot be held in the Knesset, in order to hold real negotiations for the purpose of reaching an understanding regarding the articles of legislation that will be submitted for approval after the recess.
"We extend a hand to everyone who really cares about the unity of the people and the desire to reach an agreed upon settlement. The heads of the coalition express their appreciation to the Minister of Justice MK Yariv Levin and the chairman of the Constitution Committee MK Simcha Rothman for their dedicated work," the statement said.
On Sunday night, Channel 12 News reported that the chairman of the Knesset Constitution Committee, MK Simcha Rothman, is putting forward a new compromise proposal for the method of selecting judges for the Supreme Court.
Rothman's proposal in essence would have two conservative judges being appointed to the Court in the upcoming term, along with two additional judges with the agreement of the judges and the opposition, i.e. centrist judges. In a center-left government, there would be two conservative judges and two centrist judges.
He also proposes that the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee will include three ministers, three coalition members, two opposition members and three judges.
Organizers of the protest against the reform rejected the proposal outright, saying, "Rothman proposes to carry out an attack inside the Supreme Court. To bring in judges who are committed to the government and not to the law. He is about to find out that the people of Israel are not as stupid as he thinks, we will stand in the face of his malicious plans to turn Israel into a dictatorship."