Prominent rabbis slam Supreme Court candidacy

Prominent religious Zionist rabbis yesterday published a manifesto opposing the proposed appointment to the Supreme Court of Be'er Sheva District Court Judge Joseph (Sefi) Elon. They primarily objected to two decisions he made at the time of Israel's 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

"His moment of truth," they said, "came [in his handling of] 60 detainees from Kfar Darom [protesting the disengagement], including young teenagers. In this instance, he rejoiced in sending them to prison and didn't consider each case individually, in violation of court procedure."

As reported by Haaretz, right-wing organizations are applying heavy pressure to members of the Judicial Appointments Committee to prevent Elon's appointment to the Supreme Court. The young protesters holed themselves up on the roof of the settlement's synagogue. Elon said his approach stemmed from the suspects' lack of cooperation, making it necessary to determine who engaged in extreme violence by sorting through photographs from the scene.

The second source of opposition to Elon's appointment is a result of his 2007 opinion, during a temporary assignment to the Supreme Court, in which he, along with the other justices on the bench, sitting as the High Court, rejected a petition opposing the promotion of Niso Shaham within the Israel Police. Shaham had made strong comments about the Gaza Strip evacuees.

In the manifesto, the rabbis wrote that Elon's decision in the Kfar Darom case, shows he "prefers the views of the political system over the viewpoint [supporting] social justice. Judge Elon failed this test." On the other hand, the rabbis wrote, Elon took a lenient approach toward Commander Niso Shaham, who, they said, planned to act violently and contrary to the law against the Kfar Darom demonstrators.

"The two aspects of his reasoning processes don't leave room for his candidacy," they wrote.

The manifesto is signed by rabbis from Kiryat Arba, Safed, Elon Moreh, Har Bracha and Sderot, in addition to a rabbi from the evacuated Gaza settlement bloc of Gush Katif.

Judicial system failed

Rabbi Shmuel Eliahu of Safed, the son of former chief rabbi Mordechai Eliahu, told Haaretz that "the judicial system failed in a big way in the disengagement, and the results are apparent to this day. One of those who failed was Judge Elon. If one wants to restore confidence in the Supreme Court, things have to be corrected and judges found who did not fail. [Elon] would like to show the fact that his family is religious didn't affect his judgment... Those who are thought of as 'one of us' are the worst," Eliahu said.

Rabbi Elyakim Levanon of Elon Moreh added that "a judge must be balanced as much as possible in his views, [and] a judge who has shown such a lack of balance by every measure cannot serve on the court."