Justice Minister Yariv Levin this week shared with party activists details of a conversation he previously held with a sitting Supreme Court justice, presenting his vision for the future of the Court.
According to Kan Reshet Bet, Levin explained that because two-thirds of the Supreme Court justices are expected to retire during the next government's term, the composition of the Court will change regardless, without the need to pass the judicial reform legislation.
During the meeting, Levin recounted, "A year and a half ago, I received a phone call from one of the Supreme Court justices, who told me: 'You have to understand, people like Dr. Bakshi and Dr. Bitton' - and he made a gesture like this - 'they're not up to our standards. And if you insist, we'll wait for the minister who comes after you, and when he is elected, everything will already be much easier.'"
Levin said he responded to the justice: "I told him, and I tell the judges all the time, that I believe we will win. We'll wait for the next term, when two-thirds of the Supreme Court seats become vacant, and you will have no choice-you will accept Dr. Bakshi and Dr. Bitton and a series of appointments like them that will fundamentally change the Court. We won't even need a reform anymore; you'll simply become extinct."
Levin added that if the Likud forms the next government, he intends to demand the Justice Ministry portfolio again.
Six justices are expected to retire during the next government's term, which would allow the serving Justice Minister to take part in the selection of ten justices, amounting to two-thirds of the Court's total composition.
Among the names Levin mentioned as potential appointees were Dr. Aviad Bakshi, head of the legal department at the Kohelet Policy Forum, and Dr. Rafi Bitton, one of the architects of the judicial reform framework, alongside other candidates whom Levin sees as capable of bringing about a fundamental change in the judicial system.