New Supreme Court judges named
Lengthy deliberations prompt Judges Selection Committee to name the honorable Noam Sohlberg, Zvi Zylbertal and Uri Shoham to the Bench alongside Prof. Dafna Barak-Erez
The four are: Jerusalem District Court Judge Noam Sohlberg (50), Deputy President of the Jerusalem District Court Zvi Zylbertal (60), Tel Aviv District Court Judge Uri Shoham (64) and Professor Dafna Barak-Erez (47), who serves as Dean of Law at the Tel Aviv University.
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The surprise announcement followed months of deadlocked deliberations, where much of the deliberations focused on disagreements between Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman and Chief Justice Dorit Beinish.
The Judges Selection Committee has nine members and a majority of seven votes in required to name a new judge.
The committee reportedly had a unanimous vote on the nominations of Zylbertal, Shoham and Barak-Erez, but the vote on Sohlberg's nomination was carried eight to one.
Sohlberg and Zylbertal will replace retired judges Ayala Procaccia and Edmond Levy and will assume their responsibilities immediately.
(L) Uri Shoham, Zvi Zylbertal and Dafna Barak-Erez and Noam Sohlberg
Shoham and Barak-Erez are slated to replace Beinish and Judge Eliezer Rivlin, who will retire from the Bench in the next few months.
Committee member Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan said: "I'm glad that the committee rose about its members' differences. I have no doubt the best candidates were chosen to meet the needs of the Supreme Court."
Earlier this week, the government approved the "Grunis bill," paving the way for Supreme Court Judge Asher Grunis to become the next chief justice once Beinish retires.
Friday's committee meeting was held on the backdrop of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to shelve the Bar Association bill, which aims to change the balance of power within the Judges Selection Committee.
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