A controversial bill viewed by critics as part of the government’s 2023 judicial reforms passed into law early Tuesday after an all-night opposition filibuster.
The bill de facto enables the governing coalition to appoint the next ombudsman of the judiciary, who is responsible for hearing complaints against judges.
Shortly after the bill was passed, Benny Gantz released a statement calling it "a continuation of the coalition members' dangerous campaign of delegitimization against the judicial system."
"This campaign of revenge will not bring about reform—it will turn compliance with the law in Israel into a mere recommendation and ultimately lead to a politically affiliated judiciary."
Yair Lapid promised to repeal the bill "when [he] forms a government."
"Instead of staying up all night to find a solution for drafting thousands of Haredim or advancing the second stage of the hostage deal, the Knesset spent the night approving a political fix for the judicial ombudsman," he said.
Known colloquially as the “judicial watchdog,” the ombudsman is responsible for hearing complaints against all judges with statutory powers, including criminal courts, transportation courts, and family courts, and judges in religious courts and can initiate disciplinary proceedings against them.
The watchdog is a joint appointment by the justice minister and Supreme Court chief justice. However, the former watchdog, former Supreme Court judge Uri Shoham, finished his tenure in May.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin has since refused to cooperate with interim chief justice Uzi Vogelman and current Chief Justice Isaac Amit to appoint a new one.
Instead, the coalition decided to alter the appointment method. It renewed existing legislation from 2024 to speed up the process.
Appointed by seven-member committee
According to the proposal, the watchdog will be appointed by a seven-member committee including the justice minister; the labor minister; two judges – one appointed by the High Court bench, and the other appointed by the chief justices of the district courts; a retired religious judge appointed by the two chief rabbis; the national public defender; and a member of Knesset.
The current coalition would enjoy a 4-3 majority since, in addition to the two ministers, it will use its majority in the Knesset to appoint a coalition MK, and the two chief rabbis are politically associated with the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties, who are part of the governing coalition.
A government-appointed watchdog could serve as a way to apply pressure on Amit. Levin and several government ministers and MKs have announced that they do not recognize Amit’s appointment due to what they said were insufficient treatment of complaints that surfaced in the weeks prior to his appointment.
The complaints mainly had to do with claims that he had ruled in cases in which he had a conflict of interest. The police looked into the claims and decided that they did not warrant an investigation. Amit issued detailed explanations to each complaint, including in front of the Judicial Selection Committee, before his appointment was approved.