MK Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionist Party told Arutz Sheva - Israel National News that he hopes to return to a senior position in the Justice Ministry if the next government is formed by the right, saying he intends to continue pushing for sweeping changes to Israel's judicial system. Rothman, who finished second in the Religious Zionist Party's internal elections and will be third on its Knesset list, said his priority would be securing a position from which he could continue the judicial reforms he has championed during the current Knesset.
"I want any positions that will be able to fix what needs to be fixed in the justice system," Rothman said. "It's a Justice Minister and/or other roles that will be able to do exactly that. I think we did tremendous work in this past four years to reform the justice system, to overhaul it, because it needed it, and we have to continue to change it. We have to split the roles of the attorney general and chief prosecutor. We have to make sure that the prosecution works with oversight bodies that actually know what they're doing and have the capability to make demands, because today there is no oversight for the prosecution."
Rothman also pointed to the appointment of judges as a major priority for the next Knesset. "Of course, we need to appoint judges. This is extremely important," he said, noting that "we will have in the next Knesset about eight or nine vacancies to fill" on the Supreme Court. He added that the next government would also face the task of appointing the next attorney general and the next chief prosecutor.
Asked about concerns that renewed efforts at judicial reform could recreate the intense social divisions that preceded the October 7th massacre, Rothman rejected the premise that the legislation itself had caused those divisions.
"There is no need for a replay," he said. "The demonstrations were not against judicial reform. The demonstrations were against the government. Most of the demonstrators did not even know what judicial reform is all about."
At the same time, Rothman said the next government should avoid rushing through legislation and instead proceed gradually. "If we win this election - and we should win this election - the public gave its trust to us, and we need to work step by step, legislation by legislation. Our goal is to make sure that Israel is a democracy, a functioning democracy. It's not a functioning democracy when nine people or 11 people make all the decisions."
Asked whether a future right-wing government should seek to become broader and include additional parties representing different sections of Israeli society, Rothman pointed to the current coalition's size.
"We just finished this Knesset with 68 members of Knesset represented in some way in the coalition," he said. "68 is quite a big number. It's good to have wide support. LooAfter you make sure that the government is around the values and the ideology - no to a Palestinian state, yes to judicial reform, yes to a stronger Israel, yes to making sure that the economy is working and functioning. After we make sure that these values are the essence of the coalition, everyone who wants to join is more than welcome. We were always offering other parties to join the coalition. They did not want to, because they are busy with saying, 'We don't want this. We don't want him.' This was never the right-wing ideology, to boycott other parties."
As Israel heads toward another election campaign, Rothman was also asked about concerns that political polarization could deepen existing divisions within Israeli society. "My personal choice is to try to see the way that I am speaking about rivals in the political sphere. I try to make sure that my criticism of the other player in the political game is about his ideology and not about his personalit.y .f I'm wrong with this, I will always be happy to apologize," he added.
Rothman also warned voters against parties whose campaigns are centered primarily on whom they refuse to sit with in a future coalition.
"Anyone who bases their ideology on the question of who they boycott, who they do not sit with, I think this is a very good hint not to vote for those people who really enjoy this rift, who really benefit from this rift. Be yourself. Talk about what is your ideology, what are the policies that you want to push forward, and not try to say, 'I will never sit with...'" Rothman concluded. "If your campaign is 'I will never sit with' someone, there's something wrong with you."