Israeli justice minister doesn't recognize new Supreme Court president, raising fears of constitutional crisis

Justice Minister Yariv Levin declared he won’t recognize the election of new Supreme Court president Isaac Amit and vowed not to cooperate with him, further endangering the functioning of Israel’s justice system that is already stretched thin.

At the end of a five-hour meeting of the Judicial Selection Committee on Sunday, which was boycotted by Levin and the two other government representatives, the current placeholder president Isaac Amit was appointed as permanent court president.

The appointment ended a 15-month conflict between the court and Levin, who sought to change the current seniority system to appoint a more conservative judge than Amit, who is seen as a liberal judge.

Levin, who is the chairman of the committee, refused to convene it until the election procedure was changed. However, the court ordered him to elect a new president, and in the end, Amit was elected over Levin’s objections and despite his boycott of the meeting.

The justice minister announced he wouldn’t recognize Amit and will not cooperate with him in administrative procedures, some of which require coordination between Supreme Court president and minister.

For example, the appointment of judges and presidents in lower courts and in the Supreme Court, which currently have several vacancies, requires a green light from both of them. The alternative requires High Court orders for every single appointment, which will take time and further stretch the personnel and resources of the over-worked and under-staffed judicial system.

“I hereby state unequivocally that I do not recognize Justice Isaac Amit as the President of the Supreme Court, and the procedures through which he was ‘elected’ are fundamentally flawed and illegal,” Levin stated.

In addition to his desire to change the procedure, Levin specifically objected to the election of Amit, citing media reports claiming he had ruled on several cases despite possible conflicts of interest.

In a joint statement with Settlement Minister Orit Strock and MK Yitzhak Kreuzer, Levin charged that the election of Amit “without fulfilling the basic duty to conduct a professional and objective examination of those allegations, is a moral disgrace, contrary to all rules of proper administration, and reeks of selective enforcement.”

They vowed not to “stop acting until we rectify this shameful situation from the ground up,” noting they were doing so “on behalf of a huge sector whose democratic rights were trampled on in this illegal process, and whose expectation of a fair and moral legal system was also trampled on.”

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, of the Likud Party, also decried the election of Amit in “such a fundamentally flawed process, which damages the remnants of trust that still remain.”

“I would wish the elected President success if he had been elected in a legitimate process, and if I believed that he would work to increase public trust in the judicial system, [but] I am afraid that this is far from the case,” Ohana added.

“The people are the sovereign, and they delegate this sovereignty to their representatives, one by one, according to their views, so that they - they and no one else - will make the decisions for them.”

In sharp contrast to the criticism from coalition members, opposition leaders praised the election of a new court president.

Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid called it “a victory for democracy and proper administration,” and called on Levin “to stop the destructive games, and work with the judge to strengthen and restore the legal system.”

President Isaac Herzog also praised Amit’s contribution to the country’s judicial system, adding he is confident his “many skills and rich experience will play a significant role in leading the Supreme Court… and in the very important task of increasing public confidence in the judicial system.”

“The judicial system in general and the Supreme Court in particular are a critical part of our democratic fabric and the protection of human and civil rights. We must protect them with all due vigilance,” Herzog said.

“We must look ahead, lower the flames of controversy, and strive to reach understandings as much as possible.”