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NEWS
Federman vs. Barak
by E. Rauchberger
The High Court has rejected a petition to prohibit the Chief
Justice of the High Court, Aharon Barak, from appointing his
friend Boaz Okone to the position of regional judge. The
petition was filed by Noam Federman, an extreme Right
activist.
Federman claimed that Barak has personal reasons for favoring
Boaz Okone, since Okone was the legal editor of a biography
of Barak by Levitsky and received no fee for his services.
Federman notes that such an appointment is improper,
particularly because the introduction to the biography
explicitly states that Okone donated his time for many months
to edit the book.
High Court Justices Theodore Orr, Eliyahu Matza and Eliezer
Rivlin determined that the fact that Barak knows Okone on a
professional basis is not sufficient cause to disqualify him
from recommending Okone's appointment as judge. Therefore,
they continue, there is no reason why Barak shouldn't
officiate as a member of the Committee for the Appointment of
Judges which will deliberate on the Okone appointment.
Federman said that he is not surprised by the decision, and
that the High Court is once again trying to avoid
deliberating on issues in an in-depth manner. "Its ruling on
this issue only serves to demonstrate the irrefutable status
of Justice Barak among his associates in the High Court, and
that whoever dares to speak against him is immediately put in
his place."
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