The additional hearing in the petition regarding the process of appointing the Civil Service Commissioner was set for September 21 - the day after the retirement of Justice Yosef Elron, the fifth in seniority on the Supreme Court.
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Elron is identified as a conservative judge and strongly opposes Yitzhak Amit's approach. The longer the process is delayed, the more Elron will not be able to be one of the judges hearing the case.
According to a report this evening (Saturday) by commentator Avishai Greenzig on the i24 channel, Judge David Mintz asked to examine the possibility of advancing the hearing, to allow Elron to participate in the panel, and checked the court calendar: all five senior judges are available on September 17.
However, Judge Yitzhak Amit's office responded that on this date Amit is participating in a seminar for family court judges - an event that was scheduled in advance in May, and therefore cannot be changed.
However, an examination revealed that Judge Amit's role in the day of deliberations is limited: he is scheduled to give opening remarks only at 10:00. After that, the court administrator will speak, a panel of judges will be held, and a general lecture by oncologist Prof. Ben Koren will be given on the topic of "How to Grow Hope." After a lunch break, a public singing event will be held for the judges.
Despite this, President Amit firmly refused to move the discussion to September 17. According to insiders, Amit claimed that he intended to participate in the entire day of the study, and therefore the discussion could not be held on that day.
Behind the scenes, tensions are growing between Mintz and Amit. Mintz is convinced that Amit is blocking Elron's participation for reasons of principle - to make it clear that he, and not Mintz, determines the composition. In contrast, Amit believes that Mintz was trying to place a "side charge" on him - to set a schedule and assign judges for him, something that is within the president's sole authority.
According to sources who were present at the discussions between the two, the conversations became heated to the point of shouting. Finally, Mintz told a colleague:
"I didn't plant any ulterior motives for you, and I didn't do anything on purpose. What you're doing is very wrong, but you're the president and that's your authority. And if you insist - I give up. You'll bear the responsibility."
At the moment, it appears that the hearing will take place after Judge Elron retires, despite internal efforts to change the date.
The heated controversy remains open - as does the question: Why do public singing and a general lecture trump a principled petition to the Supreme Court?
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