The Knesset has welcomed the appointment of Supreme Court critic Prof. Daniel Friedman as justice minister. The members of the Knesset will now have their cake and as well as the icing. They see in Prof. Friedman’s appointment two things favorable to their own prerogatives:
- a person who has been very critical of the Court’s usurpation of the Knesset’s legislative powers; and
- a person whose secular, leftwing orientation is consistent with the Knesset’s own political orientation—the orientation of the Establishment.
Although Prof. Friedman’s appointment is favorable to the rule of law that has been violated by Israel’s juristocracy, it still remains for the Knesset to amend Basic Law: Judiciary to curb the Court and restore a proper division of power between the judicial and legislative branches of government. Let us hope that the new minister of justice will be able to facilitate this objective.
