Opposition MKs have denounced legislation being advanced by the coalition to change the way in which the ombudsman for judges is appointed, accusing the government of politicizing the process and by extension the complaints and oversight mechanism for judges itself.

Democrats MK Gilad Kariv said on Tuesday that the bill was “a complete takeover by the government and the coalition” of the ombudsman’s role, which could weaponize the complaints process, while the deputy attorney general implied that the coalition was advancing the legislation for its own political benefit.

At the same time, opposition MKs filed a complaint to Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik on Tuesday night, requesting that she intervene in what the opposition members said were severe violations of legislative procedure by Chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee MK Simcha Rothman, who is advancing the bill.

Rothman introduced changes to the legislation on Monday afternoon and held a hearing of just 45 minutes on Tuesday, with the intention of bringing the bill to a vote in the committee next week, legislation which opposition MKs have labeled part of the government’s “judicial overhaul” agenda.

MKs Karine Elhrarrar, Gilad Kariv and Yoav Segalovich, all opposition members of the Constitution Committee, accused Rothman of violating numerous legislative procedures, and called on Afik to intervene and ensure that proper procedure is followed.

The draft legislation would if passed into law switch the power to appoint the ombudsman for judges from the Judicial Selection Committee to a new seven-member committee tasked only with this one appointment.

But the make-up of the committee would likely give the current coalition a majority on the panel, which has prompted the accusations that the appointment was being politicized.

According to the new draft of the legislation, the committee for appointing the ombudsman will be comprised of seven members including the justice minister, who will chair the panel; the labor minister; an MK to be chosen by the Knesset; a retired judge to be chose by the Supreme Court; a retired judge to be chosen by the presidents of Israel’s district courts; a retired rabbinical courts judge to be chosen by the chief rabbis; and the public........

© The Times of Israel