Gideon Sa’ar: The judges are on the side of justice

Following last week’s mass rally in support of the government’s judicial overhaul in Jerusalem last week, the weekly protests against the measures continued last night for the seventeenth week.. Estimates from various sources put the number of demonstrators in Tel Aviv at 150,000-200,000, while tens of thousands more turned out around the country.

Former minister of justice Gideon Sa’ar spoke at the demonstration in Herzliya, and attacked current justice minister Yariv Levin, who spoke at last Thursday’s demonstration in Jerusalem favor of the judicial overhaul. “On Thursday, the minister of justice made a speech of incitement and lies that slandered the system that he heads,” Sa’ar said. He added that when he chaired the judicial selection committee, he never asked a candidate about their political views. “I never asked a judge whether he was on my side,” he said. “Two judges from the settlements sit on our Supreme Court: Judge Noam Sohlberg, from Gush Etzion, and Judge David Mintz. What side are they on? Like all their colleagues, they are on the side of justice and of law. Anyone who wants judges from his side, wants judges who are subordinate to the regime.”

RELATED ARTICLES

Over 150,000 rally in support of judicial overhaul

Prof. Aaron Ciechanover, a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, spoke at the demonstration in Tel Aviv. “The damage to the economy, to our international relations, and to the security of Israel are a fait accompli,” he said of the government’s plans to reform the legal system, “but the damage will soon reach research, science and technology in Israel, which are the basis of its existence economically and militarily. Science is built upon academic freedom, which cannot be separated from political or cultural freedom.”

Another speaker at the Tel Aviv demonstration was former Supreme Court judge Yoram Danziger. “I came to the position from private practice, which is not the usual track. Because of that background, I think that I can give objective testimony about the judges, who have become a target of crude and baseless demonstrations,” Danziger said. “Supreme Court president Hayut has been vilified in recent months, The smears and incitement heard from elected representatives have exceeded all bounds. There were those who blamed President Hayut for a terrorist attack in Ramot in Jerusalem. There were those who said she should be put on trial for an attempted coup.”

Commenting on the claim that Supreme Court judges appoint themselves and that on the judicial selection committee “a friend brings a friend”, Danziger said, “This has no basis, certainly since the law stipulated that judges need a majority of seven of the nine committee members, so how is it a friend brings a friend? Continuation of the attempts to carry out the regime coup will cause damage to our international standing, to our security, and to our economic prosperity.”

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on April 30, 2023.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.