introduction
For about 16 months, Justice Minister Yariv Levin did everything in his power to prevent the election of Justice Yitzhak Amit as President of the Supreme Court. For many months, he avoided convening the committee for the appointment of judges. After the court ordered him to convene the committee, he convened it for several futile meetings in which he tried to waste time.
Then he made progress conditional on the appointment of at least one Supreme Court justice of his own choosing. When this shuffling had already crossed the limits of reason, the court issued an order requiring him to convene the committee by a certain date.
Then, just days before the date, half-baked accusations of conflicts of interest by Judge Amit related to construction issues surfaced in a miraculously timely manner. Minister Levin demanded that the committee's meeting be postponed until a police investigation into the matter was completed. But then the head of the police investigation department, Chief Boaz Balat, announced that the materials presented to him found no basis for suspicion of criminal offenses, and that there was no need for further police investigation.
As a result, the committee convened to select judges, with Minister Levin and two coalition representatives boycotting the meeting. The committee elected Yitzhak Amit as the President of the Supreme Court. Yariv Levin announced that he did not recognize the appointment and would not cooperate with the elected president. The Prime Minister followed suit and would not attend the president's inauguration, something that had never happened before.
Against the backdrop of the devil's dance surrounding the appointment of Justice Yitzhak Amit as President of the Supreme Court, I sought insights into the two people at the center of this turmoil from the perspective of people from the legal community who have prior acquaintance with them.
I do not intend here to attempt to rule on the alleged conflict of interest issues that arose before Judge Amit. For this purpose, we will suffice here with the statement from the Police Investigations Division that no suspicion of any criminal offense has arisen. The intention is merely to try to get to know the individuals involved.
This time we will deal with Judge Yitzhak Amit.
Yitzhak Amit
Yitzhak Amit was born in the Shapira neighborhood in southern Tel Aviv. He is the son of Holocaust survivors. He graduated from the city's state-religious education. In the IDF, he served as an officer in Unit 8200. In 1985, he graduated with honors from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's law studies.
In 1986, he was admitted to the bar and worked as an independent lawyer. In 1997, Amit was appointed as a judge in the Haifa Magistrate's Court, and in 2002 he was promoted to judge in the Haifa District Court. In this position, he handled a wide range of cases, both criminal and civil.
In the legal system, Judge Amit was considered a rising star, and in 2009 he was appointed to the Supreme Court. At the time of his appointment, Amit was the youngest of the Supreme Court justices.
Judge Amit through the eyes of the Haifa lawyers who worked with him
Yitzhak Amit served as a judge in Haifa for more than a decade. I tried to find out how he was reflected in the eyes of the Haifa lawyers who worked with him. For this purpose, I met for a conversation with Moshe Przanchevsky, a veteran Haifa lawyer. Full disclosure: Moshe and I have known each other since the days when we studied together at the Reali School.
Moshe is a Haifa lawyer with over forty years of experience. He is a partner at the Ben Ari-Fish law firm, and has practiced in several fields. Today, he focuses primarily on planning and construction issues. Moshe has also held public positions, was chairman of the Haifa Building Appeals Committee, and served as legal advisor to the Northern District Committee. He is well acquainted with the Haifa court system and knows a large portion of the judges.
Questions for Attorney Prezanchevsky
1. How did you become acquainted with Judge Amit?
I first met Judge Amit when I represented a client with him when he was still a judge in the local court. Even then, I saw a judge who impressed me greatly in his effort to see the whole picture.
Later, I discovered another side of him: he was an excellent basketball player. We were a number of lawyers who used to meet for a weekly basketball game at the "Nativ Eliezer" school on D'Israeli Street. Yitzhak Amit was one of two referees who joined us. He was an excellent player, with a truly amazing arm. He was short in stature, but you couldn't leave him unguarded for a single moment, because he wouldn't stop scoring.
It also revealed to me another side of the man – he is devoid of posturing and mannerisms and there is not a trace of arrogance in him. This was true on the basketball court and it was also true in court. He is a person who creates a pleasant and friendly atmosphere around him.
2. How is Judge Amit perceived among lawyers?
Judge Amit was a full-time judge in the Haifa Magistrate's Court, and did excellent work there, which brought him to the District Court. He earned extraordinary respect and admiration among the city's legal community. There are very few judges for whom there is such a striking consensus of professional and personal appreciation among the lawyers who appear before them. Yitzhak Amit is one of those few judges.
The man is smart, shrewd, and very intelligent. He also has what is commonly called a "judicial temperament," and the atmosphere in the cases that come before him is always businesslike and respectful.
His ability to manage cases is phenomenal. He prepares himself for hearings perfectly. There is no way a lawyer will come to a hearing and surprise him with something. In many cases, it turns out that he is more knowledgeable about the case than the parties themselves, and his decisions are wise, informed, and intelligent.
Judges always rule against one of the lawyers, and it's never pleasant to lose a case. It's natural for lawyers to carry with them resentment for the judge who ruled against them. Despite this, I know many lawyers, and I have a hard time finding anyone in this community who would say a bad word about them. It's very rare.
There are other good judges in the system, but he is truly exceptional, simply a star. You could see this when you looked at the lawyers' feedback. Judge Amit would regularly receive the highest scores there.
It is important to say something about the reliability of these responses:
It can always be said about negative assessments in these feedbacks that they may come from dissatisfied lawyers who were dealt with by a judge who did not rule in their favor. Therefore, the credibility of negative reviews may be suspect.
In positive reviews, however, the situation is much clearer. The feedback is anonymous. When a lawyer writes about a judge who is excellent, he gains nothing from it, so it is harder to doubt the credibility of positive feedback. Judge Amit consistently won the best reviews.
I remember well that when he moved to the Supreme Court, one could really sense sadness among the Haifa lawyers. We felt that this was a significant loss to the Haifa court system. But this "loss" is undoubtedly a victory for the Supreme Court.
3. Did you get to perform in front of him?
I have appeared before him several times. And I have been very impressed with the way he conducts the hearing. I have heard from many lawyers who have been similarly impressed. He can listen patiently for hours, and then dictate a long, reasoned ruling to a typist that same day.
I also met him at lawyers' conferences when he would come to give lectures. He was already serving as a judge at that time. You could sit with him at breakfast around a table and talk to him at eye level. The man is not arrogant. He is not one of those people you feel you need to keep your distance from. He is a very, very talented man, and also a decent man.
4. What do you think about the uproar surrounding the appointment of Judge Amit as President of the Supreme Court?
I am not a personal friend of Judge Amit, but over the years I have come to know his abilities, his qualities, and his honesty. That is why it is very difficult for me to accept the devil's dance that is going on around him these days.
During my 43-year career, I have met many judges. I cannot say about every judge what I say about Judge Amit. There are smart judges, but not nice, there are nice judges, but not really brilliant. Judge Amit is both brilliant, a very nice person, and a decent man. That is why this whole story seems so terrible to me.
5. As someone who has been involved in planning and construction issues for many years, is there any truth to what he was accused of?
I haven't delved into this case, and it wouldn't be professional to give an opinion here.
In any case, the police, which is their job, checked the details and determined that there was no offense here, and that there was nothing to investigate. So now they come up with a new claim – how come they checked it so quickly? After all, in the case of an ordinary citizen it would have taken a year. The answer is, of course, that it is so, because in this case, the national priorities require the fastest possible treatment.
6. Shouldn't he have waited a little, so that the matter would become clearer?
I thought about the fact that maybe it really would have been better to wait a little longer. But on second thought – it won't help. They'll continue to troll him. Tomorrow they'll write, as someone said, that he tasted some of the crackers at some supermarket without paying.
To the best of my judgment, Justice Amit is a brilliant and wise jurist, an honest man, and an approachable and empathetic person. A man like him is an asset to the Supreme Court and the State of Israel.
[…] Amit served as a judge in Haifa for about 12 years. In a previous post, we received impressions of the judge’s personality from a veteran Haifa lawyer […]
He is far from innocent, he simply belongs to the elite and has immunity.
As a lawyer who specializes in construction offenses, why is he avoiding expressing an opinion? Apparently there are things in the body, enough with the lawsuits, start being real honest people, this is not the way to heal the legal system!
The truth is, I asked him and he told me that from what he had read and understood, it seemed like complete nonsense to him, but we both decided that it would be unprofessional to publish something like that about a superficial examination that relies on what was published in the media, and I omitted it.
I would like to remind you that the matter was examined by the police investigation department, and no basis was found to even justify opening an investigation.
And only the degenerate Levin doesn't like it.
There's always a first time
It turns out how easy it is to smear a friend at work, and how good it is that they thoroughly investigated everything. I wish the judge great success in his position. And may we be blessed with a new government that will benefit us citizens. May we be blessed with a return to sanity and calm. Amen.
This judge is a leftist who mocks Palestinians more than Jews……you can't argue with facts……
I was pleased to discover that there is a discussion of the article prepared by Yoram Katz, and I found it appropriate to respond in order to complete what deserves expansion and to express an opinion regarding the controversy. For the sake of full disclosure, I am a retired attorney who has accumulated several decades of experience. I was an intern for President Shamgar when he was MAG, and I am well acquainted with Amit's ruling and his status. I share the admiration for this figure in a world of extremely mediocre jurisprudence. It is also clear to me that opinions are divided and it is difficult to convince with a few sentences of response: "Who is right?"
In my opinion, Levin's approach is bully-like and he does not have the public standing that allows him to lash out at the judiciary.
It is important to emphasize another very significant detail concerning the candidate:
This is about blocking the appointment of a highly qualified jurist whom the legislator, the Knesset, orders by law to appoint because of his seniority, especially since so far no claims have been received to block him. A second detail - especially important!! - is that the elected judge is the professional person who appoints the judge who will head the State Investigation Committee. And the blocking effort is related to the prediction that Amit will bring the end of the current government and the elections that Netanyahu seeks to block closer.
I preach moderation and compromise, but not hand-wringing and rudeness. All the best to Yoram Katz…
Exactly as expected this week. The writer is dying to be part of the junta that is destroying the country. They control and suffocate. They disregard criminal misdeeds when they are on their side.
If Amit is not accepted by a relative portion of the people, why this stubbornness?
Maybe to hide the betrayal?
This is how Getz harmed the security of the country:
Preventing the deportation of terrorist families
Preventing the deportation of 400 Hamas terrorists in the Rabin government.
Denial of torture of security prisoners for the purpose of extracting information
Preventing the demolition of homes of a terrorist who failed to kill
Obliging the state to provide medical care to the families of Hamas terrorists even if there is additional pressure
Discussions on left-wing petitions during Operation Defensive Shield fighting in 2002.
Cancellation of a neighbor procedure.
Reducing/cancelling the security perimeter of the border fence due to concerns about harm to civilians
An arrest procedure that ensures that only when there is a real danger can the terrorist be neutralized
Failure to grant permission to damage incendiary balloon launchers
Preparing the Arab factions that support terrorism to run for the Knesset despite their disqualification.
Non-intervention in the violation of the rights of the displaced from Gush Katif and Mamerom, based on their military experience, stated that: "The evacuation reduces the Palestinians' desire to harm the Israeli population."
Granting the right to stand to left-wing organizations
And more and more and more…
If the Arabs are against the reform, everything is clear.
Put your ballot in the ballot box and you'll see more votes for B'Tselem and Adallah than for March.
Just a question:
When Galant was running for Chief of Staff, who disqualified him because he did something legal, but a bit "gray," was none other than Judge Amit.
Every time a public figure is appointed, his "gray" past (if he has one) is always revealed, and if he doesn't have one, he will continue, and if not, he won't. That's how it works.
This is how the Dudaim sang. In the 1950s:
Some are equal and some are more equal.
DNA cannot be replaced.
And I would be happy for two states for two peoples. One is a secular state that mobilizes and works, in which Yitzhak Amit will serve as the President of the Supreme Court and its leaders will be honest and ethical people, and a second state that will be a Halacha state with parasites and ultra-Orthodox and right-wing hypocrites, in which Yariv Levin will be the President of the Court and its leaders will be corrupt barbarians.
In my opinion, Zehava's proposal, although written in disparaging language, deserves to be seriously discussed after all the abductees are returned.
I, and in my opinion many on the right, would agree to two states for two peoples if it were to be "fully implemented."
Let's say (this is just a suggestion) that the State of Judea will include the right/the ultra-Orthodox/the religious Zionists/the settlers/the traditionalists, etc.
On the other hand (just a suggestion) the State of Israel will be home to the leftists/your cousins from the sector/Reform religious/opponents of legal reform/Chaplainists, etc.
The countries (just a suggestion) will be equal in area and fenced off, and crossing for travel and visiting purposes, for example, will be subject to passport control and a time limit, and each country will have separate and fenced-off authorities.
The issue came up about two years ago in discussions between private activists, and probably because of the October disaster, it faded away and did not progress to a serious public discussion.
While it is not good that our people are divided, sometimes breaking up partnerships and independence can improve the quality of life of residents and their trust in the country in which they live.
Moreover, I believe this is a good opportunity to allow the Nation-State Law to come and expand all of its principles without being ashamed of it and the land that was given to our ancestors by virtue of their religion and faith thousands of years ago, and at the same time to give a quarter of the population of the sector, most of whom do not feel Zionist, the opportunity to live in a separate territory in a respectful manner and stop what I see as a gradual surrender to the abyss of a binational state and assimilation, which the left perceives as "coexistence."
It's clear, Zehava, that there are no delusional, parasitic, evasive, barbaric, or corrupt people on the left.
For you and your grotesque friends in the leftist National, the sun rises from the backside.
When you hear such filth, you realize how disconnected you are from the people and the country.
I am completely settled.
In this government, a dictatorship that also led to 7.10 by tying the hands of the security system (for example, in the yes procedure, or canceling the removal of the Chief of Staff). They are neutering the other authorities, harming the separation of powers (a leading democratic principle in every other democracy). In this government, a dictatorship of robes is no different in essence from the ayatollahs. They govern the Sharia as the guise of everything, and here they govern the Basic Laws within the guise of everything. Basic Laws, some of which were fraudulently passed in the Knesset in the dead of night with the tips of a few fingers, without the Knesset members realizing what they were doing and that they were transferring sovereignty from the Knesset to the courts, which have become the supreme legislator.
Yitzhak Amit, including his bullying behavior towards the Minister of Justice and elected officials, and including the exposure of the construction offenses in which he is a real criminal - is not worthy of being a Supreme Court justice, let alone the President of the Supreme Court.
You wrote the truth.
Those from their camp compliment him even if he is a professional failure, or alternatively if he was a great leader or minister, but those from the right-wing camp despise him and criticize his performance.
Even elementary school children now know which media figures and commentators belong to which side and whether it is even worth attributing importance to their biased information.
It's just a shame that this site doesn't have a variety of opinions and has allowed mainly left-wing people to express their opinions over the years.
So is Judge Amit a professional failure? What are you basing your argument on?
I do not claim to be a professional qualified to judge Judge Amit's qualifications, but I have brought what the lawyers think of him. In every feedback from the lawyers about judges, he receives excellent reviews.
Regarding the government:
I don't hide my opinion that this government is evil and dangerous to our existence.
Are you complaining that I don't find any "excellences" in her that deserve praise?
Among the ministers leading this government, the only minister whose office functioned after October 7th (without detracting from his responsibility for the event) is the Minister of Defense, who was fired.
So what do we have anyway:
* A finance minister who doesn't understand economics, who brought us three credit rating downgrades (and not necessarily because of the war), and who has no budget for reconstruction but has budgets for evasive meetings.
* An economy minister who brought us unprecedented price increases.
* A "national security" minister who is a convicted felon who brought crime to new levels, and along the way destroyed the police.
* A Minister of Education who doesn't understand education.
* A communications minister who fights the media and tries to close down the highest quality channel we have, which brought quality original productions on an unprecedented scale.
* A housing minister who is busy in his sector.
* A minister of something who decided to turn the public service into a jobs factory for guys.
* Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Public Relations (remember, there was a Minister of Public Relations, but she didn't have a printer) who are unable to organize a public relations system, and have degraded our standing in the world to an unprecedented low.
* A prime minister who may be a talker, but is incapable of making policy decisions, changes positions and lies without blinking, takes no responsibility for anything, but takes credit for military successes
And we'll stop here.
Who are the "superior" ones that I missed?
The "camps" you are talking about are not "left" and "right."
There is a camp that sees what is happening here and is shocked, and it includes many who define themselves as "right-wing."
There is another camp, most of whose members are anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox, Kahanists, or just blind people who behave like members of a cult.
I think Dovi is right about most things.
I would add that they are also cowards in that camp, obsessing all day long about their Haredi people and including an entire wonderful population, and not daring to tweet a word of criticism about the Joint Knesset members, for example, some of whom have expressed themselves in a shocking manner, and in a normal country the media would criticize them first.
So why should we complain about anti-Semitism in the world in the face of what happens every day in some studios and media outlets in our country?