Knesset set to elect MKs to judicial selection committee

Former justice minister Shaked running to upset coalition candidates, but chances slim despite secret ballot

By JEREMY SHARON
Knesset meeting to pass bills to create coalition government on May 6, 2020 (photo credit: ADINA WALLMAN)
Knesset meeting to pass bills to create coalition government on May 6, 2020
(photo credit: ADINA WALLMAN)
The Knesset will vote on Wednesday to select MKs to sit on the influential Judicial Selection Committee, the locus of severe arguments and ideological disputes of recent years.
Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked was able to wrangle a majority on the committee for more conservative judges who favor judicial restraint, and during her tenure managed for the first time to appoint more conservative than liberal judges with whom the right-wing frequently clashes over decisions striking down Knesset legislation or government decisions.
This time around, the make-up of the panel has come under even greater scrutiny since several positions on the Supreme Court will become vacant over the next three years.
Given that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal cases could well end up in the Supreme Court in several years time should he be convicted and appeal, members of the opposition have frequently said that his influence on the panel in the coming years could end up determining which judges hear his cases.
The committee is comprised of nine members, including two MKs who will be chosen on Wednesday, three Supreme Court judges, two Israel Bar Association representatives, the justice minister, and another government minister set to be Transportation Minister Miri Regev.
The convention in the past has always been to select one MK from the coalition and one from the opposition, although a clause in the Likud – Blue and White coalition agreement determined that the “representative for the opposition” should be coalition MK Blue and White MK Tzvi Hauser, who has right-wing, conservative leanings regarding judicial appointments.
The coalition’s other candidate is Netanyahu loyalist Osnat Mark, while from the opposition Yamina MK Ayelet Shaked and Yesh Atid MK Karin Elharar are competing for a spot on the committee despite the fact that the coalition, with a large majority, is seeking to fill both spots.
The vote, scheduled for Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., is a secret ballot however meaning coalition MKs could rebel, knowing that it would be impossible to discipline them individually.
Shaked is thought to enjoy significant support among Likud MKs, while some Blue and White MKs are also inclined to vote for her.
She will however not enjoy support from the Arab parties or Yesh Atid in the opposition ranks, and it therefore seems unlikely she can muster enough votes to make it onto the panel.
Elharar’s chances are also slim, although she will likely get support from the majority of opposition MKs and possibly some Blue and White MKs who would like to see a more liberal voice on the committee.
The possibility exists for Elharar or Shaked to drop out of the running, which would increase the chances of the remaining candidate.
Despite the likely election of two MKs from the coalition, Blue and White will still yield strong influence over the committee since the justice minister, Avi Nissenkoren, serves as committee chair.
Together with the three Supreme Court judges who sit on the committee, and the two Israel Bar Association representatives who often vote with the judges, it is unlikely that Netanyahu would be able to bulldoze through the committee judges who might be favorable to his criminal cases.
The Knesset will on Wednesday also vote on who will serve on the committee for appointing rabbinical judges.
United Torah Judaism MK Yisrael Eichler is expected to be voted onto the committee for the coalition, while Shaked is running for this position as well, along with Merav Michaeli of Labor.
Sources close to Shaked have said that she has got support from both the Likud and Shas for this position and would therefore appear better placed than Michaeli to obtain the spot.
There are however currently no vacant spots on the regional rabbinical courts or Supreme Rabbinical Courts, and there are few expected appointments to be made in the next 18 months, making this committee less relevant for the intermediate future.