'Courageous' judge who will rule on justice overhaul

When Esther Hayut was sworn in as the chief justice of Israel's supreme court in 2017, she pledged to protect the country's judiciary from politically motivated attempts to weaken it.

- Bethan McKernan

"It is the properly applied rule of law that serves as the glue which keeps our nation together... I pray that the justice system will not crack," she told an audience that included Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The child of Holocaust survivors, and something of a pop star in her youth, Hayut and the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, may be unlikely candidates for the faces of liberal Israel. But eight months into the crisis triggered by the government's judicial overhaul, that is how they are viewed by supporters and detractors alike.

"I see Hayut as courageous. She knows this is not an ordinary situation and is willing to speak out," said a former Israeli justice minister who asked to be quoted anonymously in order to speak freely. "She shares the values that defined Israel until now."

Hayut's term has dovetailed with mounting attacks on the judicial system. Netanyahu, who faces corruption charges he denies, led the charge. But the campaign accelerated at the instigation of the prime minister's latest coalition partners: since last year's election, his far-right allies have made judicial overhaul their raison d'être.