Israeli political crisis escalates: Knesset rejects Likud MK's bid for judicial selection committee

Israeli's olitical crisis has deepened after Knesset on Wednesday rejected Likud MK Tally Gotliv's bid for the Judicial selection committee.

In a surprise vote outcome, the Israeli Knesset approved the candidacy of opposition MK Karine ElHarrar to the Judicial selection committee but rejected Likud MK Tally Gotliv's bid, who ignored calls to drop out of the race to defer the selection of the committee's two representatives. 

Earlier, Israeli PM Netanyahu urged his allies to vote against all candidates to force a revote in a month. 

Wednesday's result dictates that another vote is required within 30 days to select the committee's other members.

The outcome of the battle over the Knesset Judicial panel has highlighted Israel's political crisis and threatened to re-energise anti-government protests. 

According to Israel's basic law, the judges must be selected by a nine-member committee made up of the justice minister, who heads the committee; one cabinet minister; the president of the Supreme Court and two other High justices; two representatives from the Israel Bar Association; and two Knesset members.

Some members of the ruling coalition want the two Knesset members on the selection committee to come from their ranks, whereas the norm was to select one member from the ruling coalition and another from the opposition. 

The nine-member committee that appoints judges, including to the Supreme Court, has been the hottest issue in the battle over the rightwing nationalist-religious government's judicial overhaul plan, which has sparked nationwide protests.

Wednesday's vote was an indication of how far Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government is prepared to compromise over plans to limit the Supreme Court.

It is widely believed that the street protests would be invigorated if the two Knesset members on the judiciary selection committee were picked from the coalition. Some small scale protests erupted overnight in Tel Aviv, but it's not clear yet whether large-scale demonstrations will follow this week.

Netanyahu has been holding compromise talks with the opposition, aiming for broadly agreed legal reforms instead. But had parliament excluded the opposition from the two members on Wednesday, those talks would likely have been nixed. 

Western allies, including Washington, have urged Netanyahu to pursue broad consensus over reforms to the justice system.

Until now, talks held under the auspices of Israeli President Issac Herzog have yielded little, compounding uncertainty over the overhaul plan's future that has hit the economy and the Israeli currency, the shekel. The stakes are rising, with two Supreme Court judges retiring soon.

Palestinian citizens of Israel have primarily stayed out of the months-long anti-government rallies, questioning the essence of demonstrations as a struggle for genuine democracy for all, including Palestinians across their homeland regardless of their status under occupation.

The proposed measures, if adopted by parliament, would hand more powers to members of the legislature in appointing judges.

Protests starting and #happeningnow in Tel Aviv near Azrieli pic.twitter.com/nLPJLtfYdY

— Seth Frantzman (@sfrantzman) June 14, 2023

Israeli judges are currently picked through a panel of magistrates, lawyers and politicians, under the supervision of the justice ministry.

The justice minister has also proposed a "derogation clause" which would allow parliament to annul a Supreme Court decision with a simple majority vote.

Some within the new government allege the judiciary has accumulated too much authority.

Analysts say such a clause could allow lawmakers to uphold any annulment of the corruption charges Netanyahu is being tried on, should parliament vote to absolve him and the Supreme Court then rule against it.

Netanyahu is the first sitting Israeli prime minister indicted while in office. He denies the charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

In March, Netanyahu announced a temporary freeze on the contentious legislation championed by his far-right and ultra-religious coalition partners.