A judicial face-off developed on Thursday between Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and Justice Minister Yariv Levin regarding the appointment of liberal justice Yitzchak Amit as the President of the Supreme Court.

As YWN reported on Monday, a Ynet report revealed serious allegations against Amit regarding a number of cases he presided over as a judge in which he did not disclose clear conflicts of interest. Following the report, Levin requested that the meeting of the Judicial Selection Committee to appoint Amit as president of the court, which was scheduled for today, be delayed to allow a thorough investigation into the allegations.

Meanwhile, Israel Police’s Investigations Department announced on Thursday that it has decided not to request that the Attorney-General open a criminal investigation against Amit, stating that “there is no evidence nor basis for suspicion that requires the Attorney General to request a criminal investigation.”

It should be noted that the absence of evidence necessary to open a criminal investigation does not mean that Amit adhered to the ethical standards required of a Supreme Court judge.

Following the police’s decision, Minister Levin announced that he would file a criminal complaint against the judge: “The entirety of the events presents an apparent picture of a serial and knowing misconduct by Judge Amit in violating ethical rules. I believe that the accumulation of the cases as detailed above, along with the questions that require clarification, necessitate initiating proceedings to file a complaint against Judge Amit.”

However, Baharav-Miara immediately backed the police decision and is now demanding that Levin convene the Judicial Selections Committee today to select Judge Yitzhak Amit as President of the Supreme Court, claiming that “there are no grounds to delay the meeting of the committee and postpone the appointment of Amit as President of the Supreme Court.”

Baharav-Miara claimed that if Levin wants to further investigate the allegations, he must do in the presence of the committee.

The Supreme Court issued a decision on the matter on Thursday evening, giving Levin an extension of 10 days to to appoint a Supreme Court President.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)