The Judicial Selection Committee unanimously elected Judge Esther Hayut as President of the Supreme Court this morning (Tuesday) and Judge Hanan Meltzer as Vice President.
The two will be sworn into office at the end of October, in a ceremony to be held at the President's Residence.
Judge Hayut, 63, was selected thanks to the seniority system used in the Judicial Selection Committee, according to which the most senior judge is appointed President of the Supreme Court.
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MK Nurit Koren of the Likud, a member of the Judicial Selection Committee, boycotted the vote in protest of the seniority system.
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin sharply criticized the seniority system that led to the election. "Today, once again, a president of the Supreme Court was appointed in a fictitious election process that tramples on all the rules for appointments in the public service that the judges themselves often write about in their rulings," Levin said.
'"It is difficult not to be impressed by the brazen manner in which the judges once again appointed someone to head them, without anyone daring to run for the position and while the committee subordinates itself to their will and humbly accepts the role of rubber stamp.".
According to him, the public is fed up with the way the legal system is run, "and with the post-Zionist rulings that frequently come out of the desks of judges who are appointed in deals hidden from view.".
He called for a fundamental change in the system for selecting judges in Israel: "We cannot be satisfied with speeches - the time has come for actions, led by a determined move to fundamentally change the system for selecting judges, so that Zionism and Judaism will return to their rightful place on the scale of legal values.".
The Legal Forum for Israel: "We support MK Koren, who decided not to waste her precious time on the election of Justice Hayut as the next president of the Supreme Court according to the seniority system. The decision to appoint Justice Hayut was expected and could have been confirmed in a telephone poll.".
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