New judicial drama: High Court sets deadline for nomination of court president as clash with gov’t goes into next round

Levin and court president accuse each other of threatening rule of law

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The ongoing conflict between the Israeli government and the High Court threatens to once again erupt into a full-blown constitutional crisis after the court set Jan.16 as the deadline for Justice Minister Yariv Levin to hold a vote in the Judicial Selection Committee for a new president.

Levin has refused to convene the Judicial Selection Committee since last year, after the coalition failed to appoint its preferred candidates to the committee, and after some of its judicial reforms were struck down by the High Court.

He persisted in this refusal despite the mandatory retirement of the previous court president, Esther Hayut, in October 2023, leaving the court without an appointed president. Levin seeks to dispose of the current seniority system and instead proposes the nomination of conservative Judge Yosef Elron.

While the court set the deadline of Jan. 16 after the selection committee was convened on Thursday, it failed to call a vote.

During the meeting Levin proposed to live broadcast the discussion on the appointment of a president and had even invited conservative legal experts to argue in his favor. The justices, however, refused to participate and walked out of the meeting. Prior to the meeting they had sent a letter to the committee arguing against it.

“The committee does not invite external parties to its meetings. This has always been the case, and our position is that these discussion arrangements should not be changed,” the judges wrote.

In reaction to the deadline, sources close to Levin told Israeli media outlets that this was “a declaration of war by the judges,” hinted the justice minister wouldn’t comply, and issued a threat that “by January 16, there will be a lot of changes. The judges pushed us all to no choice because of the arrogance of one person.”

Such a move could also include the return of a coalition bill that would change the rules of the Judicial Selection Committee, which was one of the more controversial parts of the government’s judicial reform plan.

The bill has already passed the Knesset Judicial Committee and the first reading, meaning it could theoretically be quickly passed into law. However, several coalition members at the time signaled concerns about the bill, making a majority vote uncertain.

Responding to the deadline, Levin slammed the “illegal and shameful order,” arguing that it constituted his “removal from office” as the head of the selection committee.

Characterizing the conflict as a question of whether final authority lays with elected officials, like himself, or unelected judges, Levin asked: “Should we finally hand over control of the country to a handful of judges who elect themselves in chambers, or restore democracy through a clear and unequivocal commitment to protecting the powers of the Knesset and the government?”

On the other hand, acting court president, Yitzhak Amit, accused Levin of “blatantly” interfering in the “internal management of the judiciary and in the way its resources are allocated.”

“Damage to the institutional strength of the judiciary is damage to the independence of the judiciary, and first and foremost to the entire public,” Amit added.

In September, Levin chose to nominate every single judge in the court for the president's position after being ordered to submit the names of his candidates within two weeks.