The Israeli Parliament validates an opposition candidate for the judges’ election committee

Ruling party candidate is left out, further straining negotiations over judicial reform

June 14 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Israeli Parliament has validated this Wednesday a candidate from the opposition party Yesh Atid as a member of the Judicial Appointments Committee, one of the conditions requested by the opposition to resume negotiations on judicial reform.

Specifically, the candidate of the opposition Yesh Atid, Karine Elharrar, has obtained 58 votes in favor compared to 56 against, while the Likud candidate, Tally Gottlieb, has been supported by 15 deputies compared to 59 who have voted against, so it has been left out of the body.

The result marks a victory for the opposition, which had previously conditioned the continuation of judicial reform talks on having at least one opposition member on the committee, hoping to balance powers, reported ‘The Times of Israel’.

However, party leader and former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has lamented that the commission cannot meet until the Knesset nominates a second candidate after Gottlieb’s rejection, an election that will take at least a month.

Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had called on the opposition to drop “threats” and excuses, while accusing them of “rejecting all proposals” on the table. His words came in response to the de Lapid, who had criticized the ‘premier’ for delaying the election.

The election has also taken place amid tensions in Israeli society after several civil organizations have announced protests against the judicial reform in Tel Aviv, which has strengthened the police presence on the streets of the city.

THE OPERATION OF THE COMMITTEE

The Judicial Appointments Committee is made up of two ministers, two parliamentarians, three Supreme Court judges, and two representatives of the Bar Association. Among its functions is that of appointing judges or dismissing magistrates.

Currently, the votes of seven of the nine members are necessary to name a candidate, which means that politicians cannot achieve successful nominations without the support of the judges, which has led to the need to reach a consensus to draw forward the proposals.

The current judicial reform contemplates drastic changes in this model that gives politicians, and specifically the ruling coalition, a decisive vote in appointments, a measure that some members of the Government want to extend to the judges of all the courts in the country and Not just the Supreme.

Thus, it seeks to give control of the Judicial Appointments Committee to the government party or coalition, which could also order the dismissal of judges in all courts, since the aforementioned body has the authority to do so, without the need for a consensus with the representatives of the apparatus. judicial.