Israel: Appeals filed in Supreme Court against judicial reform

The law modifying the composition of the judges' selection committee was passed Thursday morning by the Knesset (Israel's parliament) by a 67-1 vote, as the opposition choosing to boycott the vote.

Within a few hours of the vote, appeals had already been filed with the Supreme Court by the Movement for Quality Government and the Yesh Atid party. The complainants denounced "a dangerous politicization of the judicial system," while supporters of the reform see it as a necessary rebalancing of powers. This law, based on a compromise by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, is one of the key pieces of the judicial reform desired by the Netanyahu government.

Opposition leaders Yaïr Lapid, Benny Gantz, and Avigdor Lieberman have issued a joint statement promising to repeal this law "in the next government," assuming they are part of it. They accuse the government of "continuing to harm national resilience and deepen divisions."

The president of the Knesset Constitution Commission, Simcha Rothman, for his part, welcomed this adoption, which he describes as an "important step to restore the balance of power." Levin and Saar, architects of the reform, asserted: "This is the end of the cronyism system and the rejection of qualified candidates solely because of their different legal vision." National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, meanwhile, called for "continuing the adoption of the other laws of the judicial system reform."