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By Morton A. Klein and Elizabeth Berney, Esq.
(FEBRUARY 12, 2023 / JERUSALEM POST) The Left has been screaming that the new Israeli government’s judicial reform proposals are “extreme” and “the end of democracy.” However, honest examination reveals that the Israeli Supreme Court has extraordinary, autocratic, unchecked power; that reform is desperately needed, and will be good for democracy, the rule of law and Israel’s economy.
Democracy is rule “of the people, by the people, for the people.” Israeli and U.S. legislatures and executive are democratically elected and answerable to the public.
But U.S. and Israeli judicial systems are vastly different, starting with judicial selection. The U.S. public selects judges through its democratically-elected representatives: The president nominates new justices; the Senate decides whether to confirm them; and Congress has the power to impeach justices.
By contrast, in Israel, the Supreme Court self-selects and self-ousts its own justices. The court has the controlling vote and veto on a nine-person “judicial selection committee” that selects new judges. The Knesset has no power to impeach justices. Justices can only be removed by the same “judicial selection committee” controlled by the Israeli Supreme Court, or by a disciplinary court appointed by the Israeli Supreme Court.
The Israeli Supreme Court’s “self-selection” and continuing control over the court’s composition has enabled the Court to seize and maintain enormous, unchecked power.
Thus, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Minister Bezalel Smotrich suggested adopting a democratic U.S.-style judicial selection process. ZOA previously made the same sensible suggestion. Promoting democratic judicial selection is surely not an “extreme” position.
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