Netanyahu boycotts ceremony for new Supreme Court chief justice

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana boycotted the event.

By ELIAV BREUER FEBRUARY 13, 2025 17:36 Updated: FEBRUARY 13, 2025 17:43

PRESIDENT ISAAC Herzog receives the official election results from Supreme Court Justice Isaac Amit, chairman of the Central Elections Committee, on Wednesday. (photo credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)

Interim Supreme Court Chief Justice Isaac Amit’s will officially be appointed to the position permanently in a ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Thursday, amidst unprecedented tension between the government and the Supreme Court.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana boycotted the event. Levin said last month that he did not recognize Amit’s position since he was forced to hold a vote against his wishes and due to what he argued were a lack of due process over allegations that Amit had ruled in cases in which he had a conflict of interest.

Levin refrained from appointing her replacement

Following the retirement of former chief justice Esther Hayut in October 2023, Levin refrained from appointing her replacement. In September 2024 the High Court ruled that Levin had to enable the appointment of a chief justice, and that he did not have the authority to postpone the position indefinitely. Levin did not do so, and the court in December ordered him to convene the Judicial Selection Committee in order to hold the election by January 16. It eventually gave Levin a ten-day extensions, and Amit was indeed elected chief justice on January 26.

JUSTICE ISAAC AMIT was lawfully chosen as president of the Supreme Court, as a majority of the members of the Judicial Selection Committee supported his selection as required by law, the writer states. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

Ohana, who as leader of the legislative branch is considered a symbol of state, criticized the appointment, calling the election process “crooked”. He eventually announced he would boycott the ceremony at the president’s residence, alongside Netanyahu and Levin.