Netanyahu government, Israeli opposition near first compromise in judicial overhaul talks
As part of the deal, Netanyahu’s government would agree to convene the Judicial Appointments Committee in its current format
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly meeting at the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem on April 2, 2023 Photo by RONEN ZVULUN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
This article originally appeared on Haaretz, and was reprinted here with permission. Sign up here to get Haaretz’s free Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the opposition are nearing their first compromise amid ongoing negotiations over the right-wing coalition’s plan to radically weaken the country’s judiciary, sources tell Haaretz.
As part of the “package deal” being advanced, Netanyahu’s government would agree to convene the Judicial Appointments Committee in its current format.
The committee, which is currently composed of government lawmakers, opposition members and court justices, has been one of the judicial overhaul’s high-profile targets. The government’s flagship Judicial Appointments Law, currently frozen as part of negotiations, seeks to reformulate the committee’s composition to grant coalition lawmakers effective control over the selection of High Court justices.
More specifically, the legislation would hand the government the power to appoint whoever it wants for the first two Supreme Court slots vacant during a government’s term. From the third appointment on, the government would need the support of one opposition lawmaker or one sitting Supreme Court justice on the committee to get an appointment confirmed.
As part of the deal, sources say the government is mulling whether it should back down from the absolutist two-judge clause in their frozen proposal, out of fear that the negotiations could otherwise fall through, fueling the protest movement currently sweeping Israel’s streets.
With two High Court justices slated to retire from the court in the coming months, the compromise deal would prevent the coalition from exerting total control over the looming appointments.
In return for convening the committee, the opposition will consent to a law which would allow the government to use private counsel in court. Under current law, the attorney general is the default representative of the government in all legal proceedings, except for highly unusual cases, and subject to the consent of the attorney general herself.
As part of the compromise deal, the opposition also agreed to cap the negotiations by a date to be agreed upon during the Knesset’s winter session, which will begin after the fall holidays. Sources say until then, the negotiations will chiefly focus on government legislation that seeks to redraw the legislative process, particularly the way semi-constitutional Basic Laws are passed by the Knesset and the ability of Israel’s High Court to invalidate them.
When the negotiation’s deadline is reached, the host of laws which seek to alter the nature of Basic Laws and allow the government to easily pass semi-constitutional laws will be passed as a single package of legislation, sources with knowledge of the emerging deal said.
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