Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Sunday signaled his desire to swiftly pass into law a highly contentious bill which would give the coalition control over almost all judicial appointments, saying the “time has come” to approve the measure in the Knesset.
Levin’s comments, caught on tape and published by Channel 13 and Kan, were made during a meeting of the Ministerial Committee on Legislation which was discussing a separate bill, proposed by Likud MK Tali Gotliv, to have the Knesset plenum elect the president of the Supreme Court instead of the Judicial Selection Committee.
Levin said he opposed Gotliv’s bill since it would contravene his more far-reaching legislation to give the government a majority on the Judicial Selection Committee, and thus control of judicial appointments, including the election of Supreme Court president.
That legislation, which was at the heart of Levin’s controversial judicial overhaul agenda, passed all the stages of the legislative process ahead of its final readings in the Knesset in 2023, but was suspended along with the rest of the overhaul effort due to a massive public backlash and widespread demonstrations.
Karhi noted that that bill had been frozen for a year and a half, and expressed doubt that it could be advanced now.