by Hezki Baruch
Following a night-long session, Knesset passes bill to change composition of Judicial Selection Committee. 'Proud to demand justice.'
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| Knesset Plenum Noam Moskowitz/ Knesset spokesperson |
Following a night-long Knesset session, the Knesset plenum on Thursday morning approved the law to change the Judicial Selection Committee.
MKs from the opposition boycotted the vote, and the bill passed with 67 in favor and one opposed - MK Miki Levi of Yesh Atid accidentally voted.
At around 5:00 a.m., the members of the opposition pulled a statement, in order to advance the vote and bring the members of the coalition to the plenum three hours before the session was scheduled to be held. As a result, Justice Minister Yariv Levin delayed the vote until the coalition members arrived at the Knesset.
The bill, based on a proposal by Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, states that the Judicial Selection Committee will continue to have nine members. These will be: The Supreme Court Chief Justice; two Supreme Court justices, two ministers, one of whom is the Justice Minister; two MKs, one from the coalition and one from the opposition; and two representatives of the public, who are attorneys approved by a Supreme Court justice, who are chosen by the coalition and the opposition.
The two representatives of the Israeli public will replace the two representatives from the Bar Association, who are currently serving as members.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin said: "The final wording, which you see here, puts an end to the 'bring a friend' system which has been customary in these appointments, and ends the conflict of interest which stems from the membership of the Bar Association in the Committee, while providing a full solution to the concerns which were raised by those who oppose the reform, and especially worried that the government and coalition would take chare of the process of selecting judges."
"I am proud to stand here and demand justice; and I am even more proud to do justice."
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar slammed the opposition during the session, saying, "For this you wish to incite the people of Israel to rebellion, and threaten a civil war? It is not by chance that the public did not respond to you and did not come out en masse the way they did previously. They understand a simple thing: There is no real reason to oppose, other than the childish reflex of those who only say 'no, no' to every single thing."
"All of the principles of the President's proposal, including the right of the Supreme Court justices to veto the choice of representatives to the Supreme Court, and the removal of representatives from the Bar Association - it is all included in this bill. You simply didn't read it. And if you did read it, then you didn't understand it. What are you noisemaking and fuming about? What are you condemning? Preserving the status of the Supreme Court justices as the gatekeepers of an elite club?"
Hezki Baruch
Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/405998
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