The current affair of Agmon-Gonen and Shaked is disturbing from several directions. Particularly disturbing is the judge’s claim that the interior minister sent her a joint company to change her mind regarding the cases before her. This, while hiding this solicitation from the parties who appeared in the case.
● Minister Shaked vs. Judge Agmon-Gonen: Unprecedented exchange of accusations reveals the bowels of the justice system
If the interior minister did so, it is a conduct worthy of condemnation. However, both Shaked and the company vehemently deny the correctness of Agmon-Gonen’s claims. According to both of them, Shaked did not initiate any contact with Agmon-Gonen and knew about the existence of the conversation only in retrospect. If this is the case, it is disturbing to find that a district court judge, who recently ran for the most senior legal positions in Israel, distorts the facts or at least sees a mountain shadow as mountains.
I believe it is impossible to leave the factual picture in question, and Supreme Court President Esther Hayut should ask the Ombudsman for Judges, Uri Shoham, to clarify the facts.
It will be recalled that a member of the Judicial Selection Committee, MK Simcha Rotman, recently submitted a request to discuss the removal of Judge Agmon-Gonen in light of her conduct in recent months. The situation as it is, and at least a factual inquiry about it is required.
In this context, Interior Minister Shaked reveals that Agmon-Gonen has approached her in the past in order to take her to the Supreme Court. According to Shaked, Agmon-Gonen also pressured the then head of the Bar Association, Efi Naveh, to work for her appointment, contrary to the procedures of the Supreme Court. Efi Naveh chose not to comment on the news.
To me, this affair is less serious because Agmon-Gonen is neither the first nor the last to act in this way, and the procedure that prohibits the meetings seems from the outset like a decree that the public finds very difficult to abide by.
However, as far as the Supreme Court president is concerned, this is a serious act and she even disqualified a judge in the past when she discovered that she had undermined her procedure and met with the head of the Bar Association in secret. Agmon-Gonen’s dream of being appointed to the top has vanished.