A survey conducted by Panorama Market Research published
recently reveals surprising findings about the attitude of
the public toward Israel's judicial system and its judges.
The survey indicates that the judicial system does not have
the confidence of the population, and that a third of
Israel's citizens believe that Israel's judges and its courts
lack both integrity and impartiality. More than half of the
citizens of the State of Israel -- 58 percent -- think that
the decisions and rulings of the Supreme Court are influenced
by political considerations.
The survey also indicates that 70.6 percent of the people
think that judicial appointments are also influenced by
political considerations.
Recent reports indicate that the Justice Minister postponed
the meeting of the Committee for the Election of Judges until
the election of a new representative to replace Benny Elon,
who was appointed Tourism Minister following the murder of
Rechavam Ze'evi. Elon was one of the two Knesset
representatives on the committee. The committee includes two
ministers, two Knesset members, three High Court justices and
two representatives of the Bar Association. The committee is
supposed to elect twenty new judges from a list of scores of
candidates.
