Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin calls for renewal of Judicial Reforms in latest disagreement with High Court

Former state prosecutor reiterates calls for reservists to refuse military service

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Following the announcement by Israel's High Court of Justice that Justice Minister Yariv Levin must hold a vote in the Judicial Selection Committee to elect a new court president by Jan. 16, Levin called for a return to Judicial Reform legislation on Saturday night.

“Immediately after the outbreak of the war, the coalition announced a freeze on all discussions about the judicial reform,” Levin wrote in a Facebook post. “At that time, I thought it was inappropriate to deal with controversial issues while the country is in a multi-front war.”

Levin said that after the war began, “I announced my intention to convene the Judicial Selection Committee and to bring about the appointment of judges by broad consensus, as required during wartime.”

He suggested a position of compromise to the acting court president after the retirement of the previous court president, Esther Hayut.

The High Court ordered Levin to convene the Judicial Selection Committee and appoint a court president as previously ordered.

In September, after being required to provide a list of candidates for the role, Levin submitted the names of all 13 High Court justices, noting that, according to the law, the committee is to be convened solely at the discretion of the justice minister.

In his post, Levin accused the High Court of usurping his powers and responsibilities as justice minister.

“Last Thursday, in an unprecedented move, the panel decided that it itself would determine the committee's agenda and set a deadline – a vote on the appointment of the President of the Supreme Court within five weeks,” Levin wrote.

The justice minister has the responsibility for determining the agenda for the Judicial Selection Committee.

While Levin claimed that “the government acted responsibly and, with the outbreak of the war, suspended all dealings with the judicial reform,” he has also threatened to bring back the controversial legal reforms several times over the past few months.

Levin also said the court is attempting to take power away from the Knesset and the government.

“The court, in its extreme irresponsibility, decided to exploit this situation to continue its takeover of the Knesset's and the government's powers,” he charged.

Levin called out former State Attorney Moshe Lador, who encouraged reserve pilots earlier on Saturday to stop volunteering if the Judicial Reforms are revived.

“Today, this irresponsibility was joined by former State Prosecutor Moshe Lador, who called on soldiers to announce that they would refuse to serve,” Levin fumed.

Lador made his comments at an event in Beersheva earlier on Saturday, saying that refusing to volunteer for reserve duty is a “legitimate tool” of protest.

The former state prosecutor even claimed that the reserve pilots are “obligated” to refuse service to prevent the country from transitioning “from a democracy into a dictatorship.”

The refusal to perform reserve service became a contentious issue during the 2023 Judicial Reform protests, with thousands of reservists pledging not to serve if certain reform laws were enacted. Defense officials warned that such actions were putting the country’s security at risk.

Levin slammed the attempts by unelected officials to impose decisions on the government.

“This is a reality that cannot be accepted,” he continued. “The court is forcing the Knesset and the government to act, against their will, to restore their powers.”

On Sunday morning, the ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism (UTJ) said it would not support attempts to renew the Judicial Reforms without concessions regarding the Haredi draft law.

"We will not support any move related to the Judicial Reform, if at all, until there is significant progress on the issue of the conscription law," a senior UTJ party member told Ynet News on Sunday.

"Levin's legal reform is what prevented the enactment of the [Haredi} Draft Law in the first place," the official claimed.

"In general, we oppose the issue of 'judicial reform,' which leads to a rift and division among the people, and it is not certain that we will be partners in this," he said.