Knesset passes law greatly boosting political control over appointment of judges

Coalition lawmakers passed a highly controversial law on Thursday morning greatly increasing political power and influence over the judicial appointments process in Israel, following a stormy overnight debate.

The measure, which changes the composition of the committee that selects judges, passed almost completely unopposed after the opposition boycotted the final vote, walking out of the Knesset plenum in protest.

Throughout the evening, lawmakers quashed an unprecedented 71,023 objections filed by the opposition before finally voting 67-1 in favor of the legislation in the third and final reading, passing it into law.

The measure will only come into effect in the next Knesset, meaning after Israel’s next general elections, which are currently scheduled for October 2026.

It will also need to survive a series of petitions immediately filed against the law by opposition parties and a government watchdog.

As lawmakers debated in the Knesset Wednesday night, thousands of people rallied outside the Knesset to protest the government’s judicial overhaul agenda, which many critics believe is eroding Israeli democracy.

Addressing lawmakers ahead of the vote, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz warned that the nation was headed in a “dangerous direction.”

Quoting former Prime Minister Menachem Begin on the importance of the rule of law, Gantz stated that “democracies fall or die slowly when they suffer from a malignant disease called the tyranny of the majority,” which advances “slowly until the curtain of darkness slowly descends on society.”

“Thus, a government becomes a regime, and the prime minister becomes a ruler,” he said.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin brushed aside criticism of the legislation, arguing that it was necessary because the High Court of Justice had “effectively abolished the Knesset.”

“It has taken upon itself the authority to annul laws, it has taken upon itself the authority to annul basic laws, something unimaginable in any democracy in the world,” he said — referring to quasi-constitutional legislation widely seen as the basis of an eventual constitution.

“But our Supreme Court was not content with trampling on the Knesset; it has also placed itself above the government,” Levin continued.

“It can invalidate any action of the government, oblige the government to carry out any action, invalidate any appointment of the government, but even that is not enough for our court, it even puts itself in the place of the people, in questions concerning the term and removal of a prime minister — a crazy thing that is unparalleled anywhere.”

The new law fixes this by “putting an end to the friend-brings-friend system used in appointments, ending the conflict of interest that stemmed from the membership of the Bar Association representatives on the committee, and at the same time providing a full response to the concerns raised by opponents of the reform, in particular the government and coalition’s takeover of the judicial selection procedures,” he argued.

Levin and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar introduced the bill to the Knesset as an ostensible compromise over previously proposed legislation that would have given the coalition almost complete control over all judicial appointments.

It removes the two representatives of the Israel Bar Association currently on the nine-member Judicial Selection Committee, which makes all judicial appointments, replacing them with one lawyer to be directly chosen by the coalition and another to be chosen by the opposition.

It also gives political representatives from the coalition, opposition, and judiciary on the nine-member Judicial Selection Committee, veto power over lower court appointments, as opposed to the current system where no side has a veto. It also removes any influence of the three judges on the committee over appointments to the Supreme Court while granting the coalition and opposition vetoes.

In the event that there are two empty slots on the Supreme Court and the coalition and opposition sides veto all of each other’s nominations for a year, the justice minister can activate a deadlock-breaking mechanism whereby both sides nominate three candidates, with the other side choosing at least one.

Arguing that the law’s sole goal was to “ensure that judges become subject to the will of politicians,” the leaders of the Knesset opposition factions released a statement on Thursday morning pledging to repeal the law and restore “the selection of judges to a fair and professional committee” once they come to power.

“This is happening while 59 hostages are still held in Gaza. Instead of focusing all efforts on bringing them home and healing the divisions in the nation, this government is once again engaging in the very legislation that divided the public before October 7,” they stated.

In a separate statement, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party announced that two of its MKs, Karine Elharrar and Yoav Segalovich, had already petitioned the High Court to strike down the amendment.

“Judges should be appointed for professional reasons – not purely political ones,” said Elharrar, the opposition representative on the Judicial Selection Committee. “The law that passed shatters the principle of separation of powers, opens the door to political appointments and harms citizens who seek justice in court.”

The Movement for Quality Government watchdog group also announced it was petitioning the court against what it termed “a dangerous politicization of the judicial system.”

The Democrats chairman Yair Golan pledged to “petition against the law” and “intensify the struggle both on the streets and in the Knesset,” while party MK Gilad Kariv condemned the government for harming Israeli democracy.

“Israel will not be Turkey even if [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his partners adopt some of Erdogan’s methods,” Kariv tweeted.

In a joint statement with Levin released after the vote, Sa’ar welcomed the law’s passage, which he asserted represented “an evolutionary and balanced change, based on our political tradition.”

He argued that the opposition’s resistance to the measure was baseless as they had previously endorsed a compromise plan proposed by President Isaac Herzog in 2023 under which the Bar Association would have lost its two seats on the committee, and both the coalition and judiciary their veto power over appointments.

“Their current opposition to a law that includes the strengthening of the opposition’s power in the committee is puzzling,” Sa’ar stated — eliding the fact that under his legislation, the coalition is granted a veto, whereas the judiciary is not.

The law’s passage was also welcomed by Culture Minister Miki Zohar, who said that it would lead to “true pluralism” on the High Court, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who said the government now needs to push forward with the rest of its judicial overhaul program.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich celebrated the law’s passage, calling it “a significant and important step in our plan” and promising to “continue to strengthen Israeli democracy.”

Beyond overhauling the judiciary, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have also taken flak for a series of steps which critics allege are aimed at undermining legal guardrails on their power.

This includes efforts to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, which she has claimed is part of a government effort to place itself above the law and to operate without checks and balances.

In addition, Netanyahu’s government last week voted to fire Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet security agency, which is currently investigating several of the prime minister’s top aides over financial ties to Qatar.

In a belligerent speech in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday ahead of the debate on the Judicial Selection Committee bill, Netanyahu pushed back against his critics, insisting that “Israel has been and will remain a democracy,”

The real danger, he claimed, is an unelected “deep state” working against the elected government.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.