Security service to rule on judges

ISRAEL'S Shin Bet internal security service has for the first time been granted power over who becomes a judge in a blow by Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government to one of the country's bastions of liberalism.

The decision by the Judges Selection Committee is likely to make it more difficult for members of Israel's Arab minority and Jews deemed likely to cause trouble for the country's powerful security establishment to be appointed as judges in magistrates, district and the supreme courts.

Dan Yakir, chief legal counsel for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, termed the decision "troublesome".

"Judges do review sensitive security material but there is no justification for Shin Bet] to be involved," he said.

Supporters of Shin Bet argued that its role in appointments was necessary so that only those with a sufficiently stringent security clearance can access the sensitive material that judges review.

Security checks had previously been left in the hands of a separate body, the courts administration, whose checks were deemed insufficient by Shin Bet.

All candidates will now have to fill out questionnaires and the Shin Bet can then summon them for interviews and also question one of their referrants before their recommendation.