Official documents have revealed that the Israel Bar Association spent nearly 1 million NIS on campaigns and other activities to fight the proposed judicial reform and Justice Minister Yariv Levin.
In March 2023, the Association paid tens of thousands of shekel in advertising a strike. In April, the Association paid over 100,000 NIS to an advertising company for a public campaign to preserve its position in the Judicial Selection Committee.
The documents, revealed at the request of the B'tsalmo organization, showed that in August, the Bar Association paid nearly 200,000 NIS for campaigns against canceling the "reasonability clause." In January 2024, the Bar Association paid thousands of shekels to advertise the Association's shutdown marking 100 days since the October 7 massacre; these funds were paid to Maariv and Globes.
In addition, the committee paid nearly 50,000 NIS to advertise conferences and refreshments at conferences which focused on the judiciary.
The Israel Bar Association also invested significant sums of money in campaigns targeting Justice Minister Yariv Levin and opposing changes to the Judicial Selection Committee: Over 400,000 NIS were invested in a campaign focused on Levin and the Committee, and nearly 200,000 were invested in an additional campaign related to the Judicial Selection Committee.
In addition, the Bar Association paid nearly 300,000 NIS for a campaign to support lawyers serving in the reserves, and nearly 200,000 to pay journalists for guidance and other services. Nearly 200,000 NIS more went to fund social media ads.
Attorney Yehuda Fuah, who chairs B'tsalmo, said: "Firstly, it is saddening that the Association hid this information, and only provided it after they were threatened with an appeal. The Bar Association is a public body which receives money from us, the lawyers, and is supposed to act with full transparency for the benefit of lawyers."
"It is unthinkable that our money should serve the exact opposite of what we think and believe. We demand that the Bar Association stop acting as a political body and use the public money that we pay it only for public purposes, with consensus, and not for things which divide the general public and especially the community of lawyers."
In December, a bill to limit the Bar Association's spending passed its first reading in the Knesset. It stipulates that membership fees collected by the Bar Association will be used only to finance its mandatory functions.