Deadline for picking judges as MK predicts deal

(Times of Israel) – Coalition party leaders were meeting on Wednesday morning Israel time to decide on the selection of representatives on the Judicial Selection Committee, which picks Israel’s judges.

The discussion around the committee has become a battlefield after the coalition tried to change its make-up as part of its now-paused judicial overhaul push.

It comes as Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Lieberman, who is not participating in negotiations between the government and opposition over the overhaul, predicted a deal would be reached.

With discussions ongoing between the parties, the sides have fought over which two Knesset representatives to send to the committee. The coalition has threatened to appoint two of its own, instead of maintaining the tradition of one coalition member and one opposition member. The opposition has warned this will end all compromise talks at the President’s Residence.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is widely expected to back maintaining the traditional selection due to his concern that doing otherwise will reignite mass protests against his government, amid reports of potential progress in the ongoing negotiations.

The coalition’s representative on the panel is expected to be MK Yitzhak Kroizer, whose far-right Otzma Yehudit party led by Itamar Ben Gvir was promised a place on the nine-member committee in its coalition deal with Netanyahu’s Likud.

Ahead of the vote, leaders of weekly protests against the government warned that “everything will ignite” if an opposition MK isn’t selected.

“We are on alert and are available [to spring into action] at a moment’s notice,” they said in a statement. “We suggest that the government not test us.”

The overhaul negotiations and the vote on the Knesset’s representatives on the Judicial Selection Committee have become increasingly interlinked in recent weeks, with opposition chiefs pledging to break off the talks if they do not receive a spot on the panel or if the government advances the overhaul legislation.

Some coalition members, including Justice Minister Yariv Levin, have advocated for retaining both spots on the committee, control of which is central to the government’s plans, led by Levin, for overhauling the judiciary.

Channel 12 reported on Tuesday that Netanyahu has promised his allies that should talks collapse, his government will advance certain aspects of the judicial overhaul unilaterally – though it is unclear which these would be.

A primary plank of the push is a bill that would reshape the Judicial Selection Committee and hand the government an automatic majority on most choices. The committee appoints all judges, including Supreme Court justices.

Last week, Levin said he was continuing the judicial push because the current system discriminates against the political right, is “invalid” and “unsuitable” for picking judges, and is “unworthy” of a democracy.

He is said to have told colleagues that regardless of the representatives chosen, he will not convene the committee – which he chairs – until he can pass the bill to change its composition.

That bill can be brought for its final votes in the Knesset plenum at a moment’s notice. However, such action is almost sure to lead to a resumption of intense public opposition, as was seen before the legislation was frozen in late March.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets over the past six months to demonstrate against the changes.

Critics say the overhaul will sap the High Court of Justice of its power to act as a check and balance against parliament, eroding Israel’s democratic character and leaving minorities unprotected. Supporters say the legislation is needed to rein in what they see as an overly activist and intrusive court system.

Lieberman predicted on Monday that a deal in the compromise talks would be reached on Wednesday, after the Knesset votes to appoint the two lawmakers to the panel. He said he believes fellow opposition parties will give in to certain coalition demands in exchange for securing a representative on the judge selection panel.

In line with statements by coalition negotiators and media reports, Lieberman predicted the agreement would curtail the authority of government ministry legal advisers and the court’s ability to apply the judicial test of reasonableness. But he called these a “smokescreen” meant to obfuscate what he claimed was the true “core” of the deal – the return of Shas party chief Aryeh Deri as a minister despite his multiple corruption convictions.

National Unity head Benny Gantz denied opposition representatives were ready to trade a piecemeal judicial agreement for a spot on the Judicial Selection Committee.

“I don’t know of any deal,” Gantz said at his National Unity party’s faction meeting. “I don’t know what Lieberman based his remarks on, I don’t know what he knows.”

Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky told The AJN this week that what happens with the Judicial Selection Committee on Wednesday will likely dictate how the rest of the negotiations play out.