High Court to Government: Appoint a police chief now

The ruling came one week after Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit advised the court to issue such an order to the government. No legal official rebutted on behalf of the government.

Despite the ruling, it is unclear whether the order will be implemented; the country appears to be heading to a new round of elections, placing the government in a caretaker role.

The High Court has received several petitions asking it to force the government to move on stalled appointments that have been held up through the political deadlock between the Likud and Blue and White.

Israel Police acting Insp.-Gen. Moti Cohen replaced Roni Alsheich in December 2018 but was never elevated to permanent status. Public Security Minister Amir Ohana (Likud) has made it clear that he would not grant Cohen permanent status and wants to replace him.

Cohen could not be replaced because during three rounds of elections, there was no permanent government authorized to make such permanent appointments.

But since the current government was established in May, the delay has been for a different reason: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s desire to influence the appointment of the next state attorney.

Since Blue and White does not want the Likud to veto its pick for that position, the Likud has frozen almost all major appointments, including that of insp.-gen.

Technically, Netanyahu has agreed that he will not personally be involved in choosing a new police chief and state attorney, but his Likud lieutenants can still keep the positions frozen based on the coalition agreement that requires consensus between Likud and Blue and White.

Mandelblit’s argument, accepted by the High Court, was that the requirement to appoint a permanent insp.-gen. overrides any political deadlock or coalition agreement that is holding it up.

Justices Yitzhak Amit, Anat Baron and Ofer Grosskopf said the government must quickly establish an advisory committee to vet and select a candidate.

The question is whether, if new elections are called, the High Court will still demand that the government act on the basis of the idea that the court’s order was handed down before elections were called.

Even if the court takes that position, it is unclear how the Likud and Blue and White would resolve their differences mid-election, and the court will have lost its leverage.