At noon March 17, Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked’s new right-wing party held a press conference to launch its new election campaign and its slogan, “Shaked will defeat the High Court, Bennett will defeat Hamas.” In response to Al-Monitor’s question about the meaning of the slogan, Shaked said that there wasn’t an intent to equate Hamas and the High Court, but that Bennett is aiming to become the defense minister who would deal with Hamas, and that she, as justice minister, would continue dealing with the judicial system and the High Court. 

That evening, the High Court announced its decision to ban the candidacy for the Knesset of Michael Ben Ari, of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party, because of his racist statements and calls to harm Arabs. On the other hand, the court decided to overturn the decision of the Central Election Committee to ban the candidate of the Hadash Party, Ofer Cassif, who has said, among other things, that he doesn’t oppose harming an Israeli Defense Forces soldier in the territories, that Netanyahu is the murderer-in-chief and that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians. The high court further ruled that it wouldn’t ban the joint list of the two Arab parties Balad and Raam.

The March 17 decisions provided the impetus for a sharp attack on the court from all the right-wing parties. Shaked and others on the right have often accused the High Court judges of being politically and morally skewed, and the minister has been proud that more conservative judges have been appointed throughout the system, including to the High Court. Now she has sharpened her critique, as is reflected in her party’s election slogan, and presented her plan to change the court's character. 

At a March 18 conference in Jerusalem, Shaked said that if she’s appointed justice minister again, she would eliminate the committee for appointments to the high court, a committee now populated by members of Knesset, judges and representatives of the bar association. In its place, the minister would select candidates to the courts and bring them to the prime minister and Knesset for confirmation; candidates would also be subject to a public hearing.