A junior conservative justice on Wednesday launched a bid to become president of Israel's Supreme Court, an unprecedented move that legal scholars said is yet another challenge to the tribunal's independence as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government advances with its plan to overhaul the judiciary.
In Israel's 75-year history, the committee that selects the president of the country's top court has always nominated the most senior judge for the position. With the court's current president, Esther Hayut, due to retire in October, Judge Yosef Elron's decision to throw his name in the ring as her replacement represents a departure from tradition.
