A major tumult took place in the Knesset on Wednesday when in a major defeat for the coalition, opposition member Yesh Atid MK Karin Elharrar was elected as a member of the Judicial Selection Committee, which selects justices who serve on the Supreme Court.

The makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee is one of the key issues in the government’s judicial reform plan. The coalition votes for one candidate on the committee and traditionally, (although not required by law), it allows the opposition to elect one candidate.

The drama began when the heads of the opposition parties, Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, threatened to abandon the judicial reform talks if their candidate for the committee wasn’t elected. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wanted to avoid blowing up the talks, fearful of the widespread protests that would break out throughout the country. However, he faced opposition from many members of the coalition, who argued that there was no need to allow the opposition a place on the committee, especially since it hadn’t promised anything in return.

Eight coalition members had submitted their candidacies for the committee, enraging the opposition since multiple coalition candidates could have enabled the coalition to have two representatives elected on its behalf, leaving the opposition without representatives. Netanyahu asked all the candidates to remove their candidacies except for Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzchak Kroizer, the leading candidate since Otzma Yehudit was promised a spot on the committee by the Likud during coalition negotiations.

All the candidates removed their names except for one Likud MK, Tally Gotliv, who refused to do so, leading to a shouting match between her and the prime minister. Netanyahu then tried to delay the vote by a month using a specific Knesset procedural clause. He removed Kroiser’s candidacy, leaving only Gotliv and Elharrar, and asked all coalition MKs to vote “no” for both candidates. According to the procedural clause, if a candidate receives more “no” than “yes” votes, a new vote must take place within a month.

However, Netanyahu’s plan did not bear fruit. The vote, which is carried out by secret ballot, took place and Elharrer was elected by a majority of 58 versus 56, which means that four rebel coalition members voted for her despite Netanyahus’s instructions. Gotliv received only 15 votes and was opposed by 59. Another election to appoint a coalition representative to the committee will be held within 30 days.

Following the vote, Lapid and Gantz held a press conference and announced that they were freezing judicial reform negotiations until a coalition representative is elected to the committee. They also slammed Netanyahu, whom Lapid called “a weakling and a fraud,” for his failed plan to delay the vote.

Meanwhile, in light of the fact that four coalition members secretly voted for Elharrar, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called to immediately advance part of the judicial reform legislation.

Ben-Gvir said that “the fact that some Likud members voted against the coalition’s position is very troubling and raises a big question mark as to whether all Likud members are committed to the judicial reform.”

“In light of this, I call on my friends Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and chairman of the Consitution Committee Simcha Rothman to immediately bring to a vote in the second and third reading the law to change the composition of Judicial Selection Committee, and in an open vote we will see whether the entire Likud is committed to the right or not.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)