The
Israel Bar Association provides two of the Judicial Appointments
Committee's nine members. The others are a mix of Supreme Court
justices, cabinet ministers and parliamentarians meant to
encourage give-and-take in bench picks.
Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition wants to expand the
panel to give the government more clout - among reform proposals
that have sparked unprecedented nationwide protests and brought
unusually intense public scrutiny of the Bar's role.
Among candidates for Bar chairman are Amit Becher, who has
openly identified with the anti-reform demonstrations, and Efi
Naveh, a confidant of a conservative former justice minister who
championed reining in perceived over-reach by the Supreme Court.
Netanyahu has not commented on the Bar election, whose results
are due on Wednesday. It has been front-page news in Israel and
featured a spray of campaign robocalls and text messages -
including to non-lawyers - by at least one candidate.
'COMBATIVE CHAOS'
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich came out against
Becher, branding him "a prominent leftist, among leaders of...
the unbridled, extremist, quarrelsome and combative chaos on the
streets in recent months", in remarks to reporters on Monday.
Becher denies having a partisan objective, saying lawyers of all
stripes back his pledge to prevent a "political takeover by the
government of the Judicial Appointments Committee". Naveh has
said that, if elected, he would be nobody's "proxy".
Netanyahu announced he would resume the judicial overhaul this
week after suspending it in March to enable compromise
negotiations - so-far fruitless - with opposition parties. They
accuse Netanyahu of seeking to restrict the courts even as he
argues his innocence in a long-running corruption trial.
The coalition argues that the reforms would balance out the
branches of government, and plans on Wednesday to begin work on
a fresh bill to limit some Supreme Court powers.
(Writing by Dan Williams)
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