Hours after the coalition leaders announced a new outline for the composition of the Judicial Appointments Committee: the Constitution Committee, headed by MK Simcha Rotman, met this morning (Monday) to continue discussions on legal reform.
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Committee Chairman Rothman said: "We have good news today" - and spoke about the outline that was formulated: "This proposal came after we encountered a boycott from the opposition, this is another handshake. There are now over 50 days until the legislation will continue, apart from what will be done today, and there is all this time for dialogue. We can return after Passover and the days of remembrance are united.".
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Rothman called on opposition members to sit down and talk: "Stop, you are burning a country in vain, you are boycotting an elected government in vain.".
Deputy Attorney General Avital Sompolinsky came out against the new outline for selecting judges, proposed by Rothman. "There is a suppression of professional considerations here, a very significant increase in coalitional selection. The increase in politicization remains in her eyes," she claimed.
According to the new outline, the first two appointments of the Judicial Appointments Committee will be made by a majority of only 6. They will be appointments of the coalition because it has a majority of 6 committee members. The appointment of the third judge will require an opposition member, and the appointment of the fourth judge and beyond will require an opposition member and a judge.
Appointments to the Magistrate and District Courts will require a fixed majority of 7 out of 11.
In fact, the coalition will be able to appoint the next two justices to the Supreme Court, including the president who will replace current president Esther Hayut. The support of a judge or opposition representative will be required to appoint a third justice. The hearing for the judges will be held by the Judicial Selection Committee.
The coalition leaders announced tonight that the legislation of the amendment regarding the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee will be completed by the end of the current session, before Passover. The coalition stated that the proposal that will be submitted for approval will bring about a historic and fundamental change in the Judicial Selection Committee - the cancellation of the judges' automatic veto on the committee.
MK Tali Gottlieb of the Likud criticized the 'softening' of the reform. In an interview with Kalman Libeskind and Assaf Lieberman on Channel 2, she said: "I didn't know that the word surrender was synonymous with softening. This is not a compromise either, it's surrender to the left.".
However, she made it clear that she would vote with the coalition. "I will vote like everyone else with factional discipline. Until then, I will be very angry with my friends.".
Gottlieb continued: "My argument to Netanyahu that he is an excellent statesman, how come you didn't come out to speak to the people right after Levin. Who is this Miara who will lead you, why didn't you fire her? What were you afraid of?""
Other right-wing MKs launched an attack on the new outline: "We ate the stinking fish and we'll also be expelled from the city?" wondered Minister Miki Zohar.
Minister May Golan threatened: "I will not support any option other than the reform we promised the public, and I believe that most of my colleagues will too. And for all those concerned, we will not stop at anything. We will finish what is given this session, and we will continue immediately at the beginning of the next session.".
MK Yitzhak Kreuzer of Otzma Yehudit said in the Constitution Committee: "Where did the compromise proposal come from? Who did you think a compromise should be made with? Why soften the issue that is the heart of this entire reform? This softening is not acceptable to all members of this coalition, so why soften? You see that despite the compromise, the opposition is still crying and wants to blow up the country.".
MK Dan Illoz of the Likud responded: "Every paragraph in the original reform proposal was justified and balanced. Despite this, in order to strengthen unity among the people, the coalition leaders agreed to a slight softening that does not harm the essence of the reform. The one leading the issue is Justice Minister Yariv Levin. I trust him wholeheartedly.".
""I suggest to my coalition friends who rushed to attack the softening to study the issue in depth, but also to remember who is the person who put the issue on the agenda for more than a decade. Yariv is not one to fold. I trust him wholeheartedly and stand by him. If the outline is on Yariv's mind, I am calm.".
