Lapid: No deal on overhaul before selection c’tee meets

Ben-Gvir names MK Kroyzer as Otzma Yehudit candidate, Likud MK Gotliv throws hat in the ring

There will be no agreements with the coalition over the government’s proposed judicial reforms until the Judicial Selection Committee convenes and begins its work, opposition leader and Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid stressed in public remarks at his party’s faction meeting in the Knesset on Monday.

Convening the committee would be a practical step by the coalition that proves that it indeed intends to reach agreement with the opposition in the ongoing negotiations at the President’s Residence, the opposition leader explained.

The Knesset is scheduled to vote for its two representatives on the nine-member Judicial Selection Committee on June 14. The coalition traditionally allows the opposition to occupy one of the two seats. However, some ministers, including Communications

Minister Shlomo Karhi, called on the coalition to break with that tradition and appoint coalition MKs to fill both spots. Both Yesh Atid and National Unity threatened in recent weeks that if the coalition does so, they will walk away from the negotiating table.

But even if an opposition

member does take up a seat on the committee, Justice Minister Yariv Levin is not required by law to convene the committee, nor to appoint judges by a certain deadline. Levin could, therefore, choose not to convene the committee, in the hope that the coalition