The country is in turmoil over the fast-track legislation submitted last week by Justice Minister Yariv Levin to give the Knesset the power to override Supreme Court decisions, give politicians a majority of votes on the judicial selection committee and do away with the courts’ reasonableness standard. In addition, a bill proposed by Simcha Rothman, chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, would allow ministers to choose their own legal advisers.
However, there is a consensus in Israel that despite his legal education, Levin could not have prepared the legislative memorandum he submitted by himself. Therefore, the important question arises: Who wrote the bill, and Rothman’s too?
Ministers and Knesset committee heads do not write legislation – but in the case of Levin and Rothman, the Justice Ministry was not at all involved in the process. Ministry officials and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara saw Levin's proposal for the first time just two days before he unveiled it to the public. About Rothman’s memorandum, Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik said that “Rothman’s bill was written independently and may mislead Knesset members.”
So if neither the Justice Ministry, the Knesset, Levin nor Rothman wrote the bills, who did? The answer is the Kohelet Policy Forum and people identified with it. In the case of Rothman’s ministry legal advisers bill, the author was attorney Shimon Nataf, who used to work for the Kohelet Forum and today serves as Rothman’...
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