Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann is considering increasing the number of Supreme Court justices to 17. The justices themselves are strongly opposed to any increase, and claim that beyond filling the existing vacancies, there is no need for additional appointments to the roster.

Friedmann raised the matter at several work sessions that he held recently with various legal and political figures, but has yet to form a plan of action.

Expanding the bench could serve Friedmann's interests by enabling him to get a greater number of his candidates onto the Supreme Court, without blocking others who do not have his support.

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An official in his office agreed that "the issue indeed came up, but there is no decision yet."

The number of justices serving on the Supreme Court has been a delicate subject for many years, because of the judicial system employed in Israel. Under this system, which is close to the Anglo-American system, the court sets the legal precedents that are binding for the lower courts. A greater number of justices on the Supreme Court bench might give rise to various panels holding different legal positions, and thus convey contradictory messages to the lower courts. Under the European system, by contrast, many dozens of judges can serve on the benches of the higher courts.

In December 2003, then Supreme Court president Aharon Barak took the highly unusual step of attending a meeting of the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, in order to persuade the MKs to avoid raising the number of justices. The standard at the time called for 14, of whom two had temporary standing, and the MKs wanted to increase the number significantly - to 17 or 18. Barak, who came prepared with a computer presentation and impressive handouts for the MKs, explained to them the "devastating implications" that increasing the number of Supreme Court justices would have. The upshot was that the committee, followed by the Knesset plenum, decided to raise the number of judges only to 15.