About 150 lawyers, including past and present senior members of the Israeli Bar Association, who deal with all areas of law, gathered Saturday night in the Givat Shmuel suburb of Tel Aviv for an event in support of the judicial reform. The conference, which included two panels that dealt with the reform of the justice system, was organized by the Movement for Governance and Democracy.

In his opening remarks, Attorney Yitzhak Netovich who was removed from his position due to his political stance, said "we gathered here tonight to give impetus to the reform of the judicial system. The evening was organized by senior members of the Bar Association. Not everyone supports 100 percent of all the reform moves, but agree that there is something to fix and that we need to look for new ways to select the best justices and create diversity. Anyone who talks about taking up arms against the government strengthens the hands of our enemies."

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An Orwellian assertion about judicial reform in Israel
The guiding principle is simple: If the left does it, it’s okay. If the right does it, judicial intervention is essential to protect democracy.
Jerome M. Marcus

— Yisrael Medad (@ymedad) February 12, 2023

Attorney Zeev Lev, the legal advisor of the Movement for Governance and Democracy and the organizers of the conference, emphasized that the conference is the opening shot for a series of moves that will help many lawyers who are afraid to make their voices heard in public, "we are the majority and the majority supports the reform." Lev also made a brief review of the bills that make up the reform to provide a platform for the discussions that followed.

The conference was moderated by Adv. Former Constitutional Committee Chairman Nissan Salominski, journalist Ben Dror Yemini, former Justice Mosher Drori, and attorney Kinneret Barashi. Justice Drori said that “the bill to change the composition of the Committee for the Selection of Judges is good and balanced. The public will not be harmed because in the future judges will also be appointed by left-wing governments.”

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— All Israel News (@all_israel_news) February 12, 2023

Attorney Kinneret Barashi said that politicians come to serve a public purpose and promote policy and they should choose the legal advisor who will help them promote the policy. "There should be a mindset here that stops convicting politicians in advance. Of course, a legal advisor will never approve everything, regardless of the party appointing them."

The Petition in Support of Judicial Reform, Israel 2023 - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/5xFwN35HBg via @Change

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The right-wing journalist Ben Dror Yemini mentioned that the first critics of the legal system were law professors who are not right-wing people. "The right did not start with the criticism." Later, Ben Dror visited some of the sections of the reform. "For years I published articles about the need for reform in the judicial system, and the right did not join. I am very happy that there is a change and that the token has dropped, and many understand that reform is necessary." He concluded that there are 70-80% of the public want reform, but they want it with a broad consensus.