The courts as political players

Israel makes a more explicit effort to minimize politics in judicial selection. By law, the appointment of judges in Israel is based on experience, skills, integrity and demeanor. Unlike the U.S., judges are chosen by a nine-member committee that attempts to balance politics with abilities; the nine-member special committee includes both politicians and others. At least four must be women, and membership consists of two members of the Knesset, two government ministers, three Justices of the Supreme Court and two representatives of the Israel Bar Association. While there is a political dimension to the appointments even in Israel, Israel makes an active effort to keep politics to a limit.

Unlike the rarest of circumstances in the U.S., and perhaps due in part to Israel’s far smaller size, the Israeli Supreme Court usually becomes the first voice in constitutional challenges. In Israel, constitutional challenges to primary legislation are generally brought directly to the Supreme Court, which cannot decide not to hear the case. In Israel, each year the Supreme Court hears thousands of cases in which it gives a reasoned verdict. By contrast, the U.S. Supreme Court hears fewer than 100 such cases each year and can decide to allow a lower court challenge to stand unreviewed, although such a decision would be unusual to say the least.

Indeed, the Israeli Supreme Court operates in a political environment. The political bodies, chiefly the Knesset, can, at least theoretically, change the “rules of the game” and limit the jurisdiction of the courts (or threaten to do so). It is easier to change Basic Laws in Israel than to amend the Constitution in the United States [4]. The court cannot disengage itself from the delicate relations among the branches of government and it exercises restraint in deciding when and how to intervene in administration policy and the legislation of the Knesset.