This past Sunday (3 Elul), the committee for the election of
judges decided not to promote the Chief Justice of Beer
Sheva's Magistrate's Court, Oded Elyagon, to the position of
a judge in the District Court of Tel Aviv. The appointment
will be discussed again in a number of months.
The postponement of the discussion stemmed primarily from the
opposition to the appointment, especially the sharp
opposition of Justice Minister Yossi Beilin. This opposition
is based on the insulting remarks Elyagon made about various
sectors of Israeli society, among them the chareidim.
The Committee for the Election of Judges convened Sunday in
the office of the Justice Minster, where the candidacy of
various judges was raised. Most of the discussion, however,
centered on the candidacy of Justice Elyagon, which is
supported by Chief Justice of the High Court Aharon Barak and
two additional judges from the High Court who sit on the
committee, and opposed by the government ministers Beilin and
Tamir.
Before the discussion, a number of official writs of
opposition were presented to the courts' director, Dan Arbel.
As a result there was no choice but to postpone the
discussion in the committee in order to allow time to
deliberate on these objections. By the next meeting, Elyagon
will have left his office of Chief Justice of the
Magistrate's Court in Beersheba. His term of office should
have already ended, but it was extended to the beginning of
the coming civil year to facilitate the move of the court to
a new building.
The media reported the letter of Chief Justice Aharon Barak
to Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz, in which the latter explicitly said
that along with the Justice Minister at the time the letter
was written, he has ruled out Elyagon's candidacy for
promotion due to the infamous "lice speech" Elyagon delivered
a year-and-a-half ago.
Barak's letter came in response to a letter sent to him by
Rabbi Ravitz regarding Elyagon's speech. "It seems that in
such a serious case, Your Honor should issue an unequivocal,
explicit statement. I am certain that Your Honor is appalled
by the remarks of Justice Elyagon. But if such is the case,
why shouldn't he publicly express his opinion?" Rabbi Ravitz
wrote, adding that Elyagon should be immediately suspended
from any judicial position.
In his response to Rabbi Ravitz, Barak wrote the following:
"Chief Justice Elyagon's remarks are unacceptable to me. They
should not have been made. Immediately following his
statements I called Chief Justice Elyagon and told him that I
was displeased with his remarks. This was a type of
presidential rebuff (which has no legal status) which I
administered publicly, and which received coverage in the
media (`Chief Justice Barak Reprimands Justice
Elyagon')."
Barak also wrote: "The Justice Minister and I have decided to
remove Elyagon's candidacy for promotion which, at that time,
was dependent on a decision of the Appointment Committee. In
my opinion, I did whatever was required of me in my position.
I am not authorized to do any more, and, as a result, will
not express any position on this issue."
In early 1999, Elyagon called the chareidi community
"parasites" and some attorneys and politicians "lice." He
aroused a storm again last December when he told a defendant
whose disabled lawyer could not reach the third floor of
Be'er Sheva's Labor Court -- where there is no elevator --
that his lawyer should have thought of that before choosing
his profession.
Recently, many reports and articles appeared in the media
criticizing the promotion of Elyagon to the position of
district judge. The reason for this opposition was the stance
of the current Justice Minster on this issue which is
strongly against the promotion. Ever since the Justice
Minister decided not to extend Elyagon's term of office as
president of the Southern Magistrate's Court, Justice Barak
has been leading a campaign for the appointment of Elyagon to
the Tel Aviv District Court which would be a promotion,
despite his earlier letter. Confronted by a religious legal
clerk who asked him about Elyagon's promotion, Barak cast
doubt on whether Elyagon had in fact made the remarks
attributed to him.
