Beinisch retained her integrity
At the end of the day, or shall we say at the start of the meeting, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch handed down the best of all possible verdicts: Amid the tainted atmosphere surrounding the tumultuous selection of new Supreme Court justices, it is impossible to make a fair-minded decision, she said. Not because of any tilt to the Right or Left, or because judges are being backed by politicians and lobbyists of one stripe or another. Instead, the psychological rule of thumb that says one should never make decisions under pressure, or in the heat of panic or anger, applies in this case. All of the candidates are top-notch and deserve the job, just not now.
All day Sunday, various "deals" were cooked up. Tel Aviv District Court President Dvora Berliner? A fine candidate. Former Attorney-General Menachem (Meni) Mazuz, whose name only just came up? A worthy choice. Deputy Jerusalem District Court President Zvi Zylbertal? Also worthy. Jerusalem District Court Judge Noam Sohlberg? Worthy, but controversial. Not on account of his character; nor on account of his verdicts restricting freedom of the press to the point of trying to control how material is vetted for publication, but due to the fact that right-wing politicians view his selection as a long-awaited foothold in the mountain that is the Supreme Court. Yet his strict approach of justice untempered by mitigating circumstances may have been Sohlberg's undoing.
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He is not an obviously unfit candidate even if his conception of freedom of the press and the public's right to know does not sit well with me or my colleagues. Nor, perish the thought, does the fact that he was a principled opponent of the disengagement from Gaza disqualify him. Nor is there any reason to cast doubt on Jerusalem District Court President Moussia Arad's decision to nominate him for the position of attorney-general. What does disqualify him (temporarily) is the principle that a man is known by the company he keeps. By extension, a man is known by his supporters. So many politicians have backed Sohlberg that it raises questions. It's not that the politicians are left- or right-wing but the fact that they're politicians. Too many cooks spoil the soup, and a man with too many friends may come to ruin. Sohlberg needs a cooling-off period.
Beinisch did not offer a full account of her thought process. She should have said to Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman, MK Gilad Erdan (Likud), MK David Rotem (Yisrael Beitenu) and MK Uri Ariel (National Union) that the High Court of Justice needs a breather from their scheming. They are breathing down its neck, damaging its reputation and diminishing what has been an Israeli beacon of light to the entire world.
The Supreme Court is an asset whose moral force was revealed last week when it ratified the sentence Moshe Katsav received from a court presided over by Justice George Kara, an expert in criminal law. (Why not add his name to the roster of candidates to replace the retiring criminal law impresario Edmond Levy-) Beinisch's decision on Sunday is merely an interim decision, as it is called in legal lingo. It's possible that four new judges will be selected. It's possible that Neeman will maneuver to have his own candidates chosen after she retires on March 1. If so, at least Beinisch can say that she did not compromise her judicial integrity.
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