The High Court of Justice ruled on Monday that the committee that appoints dayanim will not convene until a new government is formed. That means the committee will not convene before elections, set for 11 Shevat 5773, and it will take at least an additional week to form a new coalition in the best of conditions.
An organization representing women’s rights in Israel filed a petition with the High Court of Justice challenging the makeup of the committee responsible for appointing the nation’s dayanim. The petition cited that of the ten-member appointment committee, there is not a single female.
As a result of the petition, the High Court issued an injunction prohibiting the committee from appointing new dayanim. This has led to a critical shortage and a severe caseload backlog. The most effected courts are the Rabbinical Supreme Court along with the Haifa and Jerusalem Rabbinical Courts.
Rabbi Shlomo Dichovsky, who serves as the director-general of the Chief Rabbinate agrees and says women should be on the appointment committee. He feels “in light of the current situation, one of every three appointments to the committee should be a woman”. While Dichovsky may not favor such a reality l’chatchila, in light of the severe judicial backlog he supports the move at present to expedite the appointment of dayanim.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
One Response
Dachovsky is correct….1 in 3 new appointments should be women and this would be a good start towards a more balanced appointment body. They could have done this months ago and avoided the current delay. The article does not explain why they don’t just appoint one or two of the many highly qualified women to this committee NOW rather than waiting for another several months.