November Edition 2020

7 The two Israeli female Presidents have dramatically impacted the legal landscape, shaping precedent and have been involved in landmark rulings that have affected and will affect the whole country. Overseeing the current crop of cases is Esther Hayut . Even before becoming President of the Supreme Court in October 2017, she has shown the resilience demanded of such a role. She blocked an attempt by then-Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to end the seniority method for appointing Supreme Court presidents. Hayut’s court also overturned a law authorizing higher taxes on people who own three or more apartments, a cornerstone of Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon’s plan to lower home prices. Other explosive political cases await Hayut in the next three years. More than 20 petitions have been filed against Israel’s Nation-State law. Key questions to be debated will include: does the Supreme Court have the power to strike down a Basic Law – which has constitutional status – if it finds that the legislation conflicts with Israel’s overall constitutional values? Well before that question is answered, the court will probably have to rule whether Prime Minister Netanyahu can be prime minister while under indictment – and while standing trial. Hayut’s immediate predecessor,MiriamNaor , had her own fair share of battles since she was appointed as a Justice in 2003 and as President in 2015. She retired by ratifying the verdict allowing Tel Aviv supermarkets and recreation centers to remain open on Shabbat, one of the key decisions in recent years. She also presided over some of the country's biggest legal and hot-button issues, including decreeing African asylum seekers cannot be held in the Holot facility for more than 20 months a nd issued the verdict calling the agreement exempting yeshiva students from army service discriminatory. I n another precedential verdict, Naor decreed overseas conversion to Judaism will be deemed valid by the state for the purposes of the Law of Return, so long as it was performed in a "recognized Jewish community", even if it wasn't necessarily Orthodox. Israel’s Female Supreme Court Justices: Track Record of Resilience and Fight