Last week, it was reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu was pushing to instead establish a governmental commission, whose members would be appointed by the Cabinet rather than the Supreme Court.
Commission appointments are usually in the gift of Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit.
However, the Netanyahu administration has a history of clashes with the court, notably over justices blocking the firings of now-resigned Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and current Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, and the government’s contentious judicial reform proposals.
The prime minister himself has previously hit out at “deep state” of jurists, lawyers and bureaucrats allegedly working to undermine his policy agenda.
Per Channel 12, Netanyahu is “examining” the prospect of “a governmental commission of inquiry with five members, holding the same powers as a state commission of inquiry”.
It is understood that Amit was likely to appoint his predecessor, Esther Hayut, an outspoken critic of the current government’s judicial reforms, to lead a state commission.
Instead, Netanyahu was reportedly weighing up "a retired judge and a retired general identified with the right" to lead the inquiry.
While Herzog is a member of the Labor Party, which opposes Netanyahu's Likud, it is unusual for a president as head of state to directly intervene in day-to-day policymaking.
