Factions of the Israel Bar Association clashed over support for judicial reform on Sunday night when the Bar’s vice president, Itzhak Natovich, reprimanded acting president Amit Bechar for speaking at an event in protest against the reform.
Natovich, who ran in the Lawyers leadership election with the Zionist Legal Initiative faction, sent a letter to Bechar after the acting president had given a speech to the NGO Brothers in Arms. Natovich asked Bechar to stay out of politics and warned him that if the incumbent did not step down, his faction would try to impeach him and ensure he was not elected.
“After the public criticism that the Bar received for the political involvement of those who claim to represent it, I am sorry to see that you decided to continue the flawed path of Avi Himi, in an attempt to win the votes of left-wing lawyers.” Natovich wrote.
Himi, the previous head of the prosecution who resigned in January amid allegations of sexual misconduct, was an outspoken critic of the judicial reforms announced by Justice Minister Yariv earlier this year. Himi’s resignation triggered the Lawyers’ elections, which are scheduled for June 20.
Natovich told Bechar, head of the list for the Hope for the Bar faction, that as president of the association, he had to represent all of its members. Natovich argued that a significant number of lawyers supported changes in the judicial and law enforcement system to some extent.
Israel Bar Association head Avi Himi delivers a speech at a rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on January 21, 2023. (Credit: GILI YAARI /FLASH90)
“You take a leading part in the protests against the judicial reform, which is obvious to everyone, they are protests not only against the reform but against the government and against the country as a Jewish and democratic state, thus turning the association into a political body .” said Natovich.
How has Bechar become involved in the protests?
The deputy also said that the members of the Bar were opposed to “extremist” organizations. The Brothers in Arms group, according to Natovich, appropriated the IDF for a leftist political agenda.
“Stop your participation as the president of the Bar in the demonstrations against the government and in the encouragement of the bodies and people who oppose the government,” Natovich said.
On May 1, Bechar spoke at a rally against judicial reform.
“Whoever harms the independence of Israel’s High Court of Justice and its standing in the world is endangering Israeli democracy and endangering each and every one of us,” Bechar said. “The Bar Association will not allow this to happen.”
Bechar called for a bridge to dialogue and unity in judicial reform, but said the Bar would not compromise on key democratic values.
In recent weeks, some candidates have pulled out of the race and joined Bechar’s Hope for the Bar faction, which has also won the support of National Unity MK Gideon Saar. Behar said last Tuesday that the faction sought to free the Bar from outside interests, restore honor to the profession and preserve democracy.
The platform of the Natovich Zionist Legal Initiative faction calls for lawyers to be able to profess their own positions and beliefs, and advocates for the development and implementation of Zionist legalism and “Zionist laws” such as the Nation-State Law and the Law of Return.
