To describe what has been going on in the Israeli justice system in recent weeks, it seems we need to borrow terms from the world of deadly natural disasters. There is no other way to describe allegations that the former head of the Israel Bar Association, Effi Naveh, promoted candidates for the judiciary in exchange for sexual favors and openly violated Israeli law to smuggle his lover into the country. And these are just the tip of the iceberg.
Ahead of Naveh's resignation on Thursday, attorney Ilan Bombach, one of the most senior lawyers in Israel and an expert on ethics and administrative and corporate litigation, was already calling for his immediate dismissal and sharply criticizing Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and her decision-making process in the appointment of judges.
Bombach, who in the past has served as chair of the IBA's Tel Aviv District Ethics Committee and chairman of the Tel Aviv and Central District Committee of the Israel Bar Association, claims that the IBA is controlled not by jurists, but by wheelers and dealers.
According to Bombach, the root of the problem is that "the Israel Bar Association has transformed from a place that represents the genuine interests of the public and the rights of the public to a place of power plays and wheeling and dealing.
Q: What do you mean?
"A great many people who are members of the Israel Bar Association remain in Effi Naveh's giant coalition, despite knowing what kind of person he is, out of fear. As soon as an indictment was filed against him [in late December] for bringing in and slipping a lover out of Israel [unregistered], he should have resigned. His entire coalition should have left him. But Effi Naveh is a very strong and forceful man. He hinted that anyone who resigned and didn't support him would suffer consequences as soon as he was exonerated. The reality was such that even when the writing was on the wall, good people turned a blind eye and convinced themselves everything was fine."
A duty to dismiss
"I saw Effi Naveh's conduct. With him, it's like you're either with him or against him. He is a forceful, arrogant, vain person who has no restraint. He got too far [in his career] too quickly. When I saw how Effi Naveh behaved, I was full of regret. What we are witnessing now is the result of that. Unfortunately, it will take some time to rehabilitate the Israel Bar Association."
Bombach also takes issue with Shaked.
"When you choose a judge," he says, "the primary consideration should be [that they are] a judicial prodigy - part of this is also judicial temperament and respect for attorneys and the defendants. But that is not the case. People were chosen for their political positions. Unfortunately, I sometimes find myself praying that the judge in front of me has even read [is familiar with] the case. True, most judges are excellent, but all of Ayelet Shaked's activity and her alliance with Effi Naveh have led to judges being appointed for reasons outside their ability."
Q: Could it be that the way in which judges are appointed in Israel needs to be changed? Maybe we should hold hearings, like in the U.S.?
"It must be said very strongly said that, while the system for appointing judges in Israel is not perfect, I believe it is the best I have seen. God forbid judges be appointed for their political positions, like in the U.S. What matters is the judge's personality, that they understand the people standing before them, that they are gifted legalists, that they know how to isolate the main thing and filter out the surrounding fuss. Political positions will not lead to justice."
Conflict of interests
As far as whether the time has come to cancel the entire Israel Bar Association and switch to a free-market reality, Bombach comes down firmly in favor of the IBA.
"The Israel Bar Association has a very significant role in Israeli society in many, many fields. We maintain the lawyers' independence from all kinds of factors, we protect ethical norms vis-à-vis clients and the general public. The bar also takes care to postpone deliberations when necessary. We hold training days and seminars on new laws in the Knesset. The objectives of the bar are very important."
Q: Sometimes the public has the sense that lawyers are not exactly moral beacons.
"A lawyer deals with opposing interests. He is loyal to the client, loyal to the law, loyal to the court. He is torn between the need to defend a client and the need to adhere to ethical rules. It is very important that a judge presiding over a deliberation knows how to differentiate between the show the lawyer puts on and the actual claims they are making. That's why the judge has to be a prodigy, and not a man chosen for their political positions."
Bombach has spent a lot of his time in recent years representing interns, who have repeatedly claimed that the Israeli bar exam is built to fail as many students as possible.
Bombach says there is no alternative and the Knesset must pass a law to reform the bar exam.
"The whole exam doesn't make sense. I am in favor of setting a high passing grade so long as the exam is fair, so that people know why they failed," he says.
"I was at the Knesset a year ago, and all the lawmakers told my people that the bar isn't fair. But the IBA didn't listen. I defeated it in the High Court, but the justices told me they weren't authorized to grant bonus points. The proctors also told me that it was not within their authority [to do so], and the IBA itself said it wasn't within their authority."
Q: How do we fix the damage that's been done?
"A new leadership must be chosen – one that is clean, principled, professional, one that will have the interests of the lawyers and the greater public at heart."
