The government is trying to seize control of the judiciary by having a favorable candidate win the attorney group's elections, Interim Bar head Amit Becher claimed on Saturday night at an anti-judicial reform protest in front of the President's Residence.
Becher, himself a leading candidate in the election, explained to the crowd that if a candidate suitable to the coalition assumed power in the Bar, they would be able to appoint a politically aligned Judicial Selection Committee attorney representative.
To this end, the coalition was seeking to delay the selection of the committee, the Becher told the crowd of 12,000 people. The Judicial Selection Committee Knesset representatives are set to be voted on Wednesday, and the Bar Association election is next Tuesday.
Becher promised that he would fight for an independent judicial system, and one of the groups organizing the protest, Guardians for a Share Home, urged Jerusalem attorneys to vote for Becher or other candidates that were against the reform.
The temporary Bar head didn't name who he thought would represent the coalition in pushing for judicial reform.
Israel's Bar fights internally over judicial reform
Deputy Bar chairman Itzhak Natovich is running with the list called the Zionist Legal Initiative, which has indicated that it may support the judicial reform, and has denounced Becher for his open support of judicial reform protests. Natovich warned that Becher was emulating previous Bar head Avi Himi, who was outspoken against the reforms but resigned in January over a sex scandal.
Former Bar head Efi Nave, who resigned before Himi in 2019, has engaged in a back-and-forth with Bechar during their competing campaigns for the Bar chairmanship. Nave has also condemned Becher for his overly political approach to the temporary leadership. Nave said that he is for reforms, but not as they are currently formulated by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and was against the removal of Bar representatives on the Judicial Selection Committee.
On Sunday, Nave said that Avraham Lalum had withdrawn his candidacy in the elections, and had thrown his support behind Nave.
The Bar has estimated that around 77,000 people would vote in the coming election.