Last update - 00:00 06/05/2007
Mazuz orders rabbinical court judge appointments canceled
By Yuval Yoaz and Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondents
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz instructed Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann on Sunday to cancel the appointments of 15 new religious court judges.
Friedmann said later Sunday that he is not opposed to canceling the appointments.
The appointments, which account for some 15 percent of the total number of religious court judges, were approved in March by a special committee that Friedmann heads.
Justice Ministry sources said Sunday that Mazuz's decision was based on the existence of procedural abnormalities in the appointment process. The sources said Mazuz made the decision ahead of the date on which the Justice Ministry was to issue an official response to a High Court of Justice petition against the appointments.
Mazuz based his decision in part on the fact that the religious judge certification for 14 of the 15 of those appointed had expired and must be renewed.
According to the sources, while the Chief Rabbinical Council did decide to grant the appointees the certification ex post facto, Mazuz ruled there was still just cause to cancel the appointments.
The appointments were approved on the basis of an agreement between the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox party Shas, and Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox parties.
Due to the High Court petitions against the appointments, the state has informed the court that the new judges will not be sworn in for the time being.
12 of the 15 appointees are ultra-Orthodox, and only one of them has legal training. Many of them have close ties to politicians, senior religious judges, and other public figures, including the brother of Communications Minister Ariel Atias (Shas), the brother of Western Wall Chief Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, and the son of Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef's personal physician.
The Tzohar organization of religious Zionist rabbis, which had petitioned the High Court of Justice against the nominations, expressed satisfaction with Mazuz's decision. "The process of nominating the judges was conducted in a disgraceful manner," an organization spokesperson said.
The members of Tzohar hope that the Justice Ministry will reconvene the rabbinical judges appointments committee, and conduct the selection process in a fair and rational manner that incorporates the conclusions for correcting the errors from the previous round of nominations.
Tzohar called on Friedmann to take advantage of the opportunity afforded him by Mazuz, and "fulfill his duty to uphold Israeli public interest, and not political manipulation."
The Center for Jewish Pluralism, and various women's organizations also expressed satisfaction with Mazuz's decision and called on Friedmann to conduct the new nominations in accordance with the law, "so that the most qualified candidates are selected for the important judicial post, which affects the lives of many women."
Members of the committee told Haaretz that the nominations were the result of a deal between Shas and the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox parties, according to which six of the nominees would be from Shas, four from Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox parties, and two from national-religious parties.
The ultra-Orthodox parties have enjoyed a controlling majority within the committee since Shas joined the coalition.