In a Legally Dubious Vote, Yitzchak Amit Appointed as Supreme Court President

Photo Credit: Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90

Supreme Court Justice Yitzhak Amit arrives at the partially boycotted Committee for the Appointment of Judges which voted on his appointment as President of the Supreme Court, in Jerusalem on January 26, 2025.

Some of the Judicial Selection Committee voted on Sunday evening to appoint Yitzhak Amit as the President of the Supreme Court. With only some of its members participating, it appears to be a vote with questionable legal standing.

According to a plain reading of text of the law, the nine-member committee requires the presence of at least seven members to convene a valid meeting for the purpose of selecting judges.

However, the court has reinterpreted this requirement, asserting that it means that while the committee must consist of at least seven members, the meeting itself does not require the attendance of at least seven members. To understand that absurdity, it would appear that according to their interpretation, if only one member showed up to the vote, it would be legitimate, as long as the committee still had seven members on it.

4b) The committee shall be made up of nine members… The Justice minister is the committee chairman.
4c) The committee is authorized to act with fewer members, as long as there are no fewer than seven.

Coalition members Justice Minister Yariv Levin (and chairman of the committee), Minister Orit Strock, and MK Yitzhak Kroizer boycotted the vote, leaving only six members present at the meeting. Despite this, the vote proceeded, leading to the controversial and illegitimate appointment.

Justice Minister Levin publicly declared that he does not recognize the legitimacy of the vote or the resulting appointment of Justice Amit as Supreme Court president.

Levin, Kroizer and Strock declared this a “sad day for democracy and a sad day for our judicial system.”

It has been recently exposed that Justice Yitzhak Amit has been embroiled in a number of legal and ethical controversies. It was revealed that he had engaged in illegal construction on his property, concealed his real name on official documentation to that end, and presided over cases in which he had potential conflicts of interest. These issues have further fueled the debate over his appointment and the legitimacy of the Judicial Selection Committee’s actions.

Knesset Speaker MK Amir Ohana (Likud) called the vote “crooked”.

MK Simcha Rothman, chairman of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee posted, “On an evening like this, all that remains is to wish Acting President of the Supreme Court Yitzhak Amit that, upon conclusion of the investigation into the allegations against him, it will be revealed that he is innocent.”

בערב שכזה כל שנותר לעשות הוא לאחל לממלא מקום נשיאת בית המשפט העליון יצחק עמית שבסיום בירור החשדות נגדו יתברר שהוא חף מפשע.

— שמחה רוטמן – Simcha Rothman (@rothmar) January 26, 2025