Shaked strives for a more conservative Supreme Court

Asked about the possibility of elections, Shaked responded that she thinks they will be in March.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Updated: NOVEMBER 19, 2018 00:24
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Justice Minister Ayelet Shakedwants the Supreme Court to be more conservative. Speaking on Sunday at the Inbal Jerusalem Hotel to the Third Jerusalem Leaders Summit of American, British, New Zealand and Israeli civil society leaders, Shaked said that she was trying to balance Israel’s legal system and to make it more conservative.
Up until recently, she said, Israel had a very liberal and active judiciary, but she was proud that six of the 15 judges who serve in the Supreme Court were selected by a committee which she chaired. “I was able to shift the liberal side to conservative,” she said.
Regardless of the liberalism, Shaked also took pride in Israel’s “strong judicial system” and in Israel’s “strong democracy.”
Asked about the possibility of elections, Shaked responded that she thinks they will be in March, adding that she hopes if the nation goes to elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will serve yet another term as prime minister.
“But the people of Israel will decide that,” she said.
She also made it clear that she hopes that Israel will have a strong right-wing government and that her own party, Bayit Yehudi, will emerge stronger than it is now.
On the subject of Gaza, she said that Israel should take a tougher stance in its response to terrorist attacks “because Hamas is becoming stronger and stronger.”
She also said that she doubted that the gap between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority can be bridged.
Earlier in the day, former ambassador to the United States Danny Ayalon voiced concern over the fact that American support for Israel is becoming a partisan issue, and said that Israel has to reach out to classic, well-established Democrats.
Shaked did not appear to have a partisan problem, referred to bipartisan support and declared that Israel does not have a better friend in the world than the United States.