Israel: Supreme Court overturns Netanyahu's judicial reform

The change in the Basic Law deprived the Supreme Court of the opportunity to take action against “inappropriate” decisions by the government, the Prime Minister or individual ministers.

Tel Aviv – In a dramatic decision, the Supreme Court judges in Israel overturned a core element of the controversial judicial reform that the right-wing religious government of Benjamin Netanyahu had been pushing forward for a year despite massive protests.

As the court announced, eight out of 15 judges voted against a change to the law on the so-called adequacy clause passed by Parliament in July. The amendment to the clause was intended to deprive the Supreme Court of the ability to classify government decisions as “unreasonable” and overrule them.

Court sees “damage to Israel”

The court said the clause was overturned “because of the serious and unprecedented harm to the fundamental characteristics of the State of Israel as a democratic state.”

Parliament had the law restricting judicial powers in July despite ongoing protests passed with a narrow majority. Netanyahu's government, a coalition of his Likud party and right-wing extremist and ultra-Orthodox parties, considers the legal changes necessary to readjust the balance of power in the separation of powers.

Israel deeply divided

The right-wing religious government's plans to restructure the judiciary have deeply divided the country. Since the judicial reform was presented a year ago, tens of thousands of people have demonstrated against it week after week. The mass protests only ended with the unprecedented attack on Israel by the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas on October 7th.

The plaintiffs against the law restricting the so-called adequacy clause had argued that it weakens the judiciary as a pillar of Israeli democracy. They fear that disempowering the judiciary could pave the way for an authoritarian state.

Israel's justice minister and parliament speaker criticize the decision

After the verdict was announced, Israel's Justice Minister Jariv Levin accused the court of “claiming all the power for itself.” With their decision, “the judges take all the power into their hands, which in a democratic system is distributed in a balanced way between the three branches” executive, legislature and judiciary, the minister explained on the Telegram online service.

Levin, the architect of judicial reform, said the ruling “deprives millions of citizens of their voice.” He also criticized the publication of the judgment “in the middle of Israel war“. This damages the “unity necessary these days for the success of our fighters at the front”.

Israeli Parliament Speaker Amir Ochana has denied the country's Supreme Court the authority to annul basic laws. This is “obvious,” says Ochana after media reports on a Supreme Court ruling against the controversial judicial reform in the country. “It is even more obvious that we cannot deal with this while the war is at its peak,” Ochana said.

Opposition leader gives “full support” to the verdict

Israeli opposition leader Jair Lapid has expressed support for the Supreme Court after it overturned a key element of controversial judicial reform. “The Supreme Court’s decision comes at the end of a tough year of strife that has torn us apart from within and led to the worst catastrophe in our history,” Lapid wrote on Monday on the X platform, formerly Twitter. The court faithfully fulfilled its mandate to protect the citizens of Israel. “We give the Supreme Court our full support.”

Lapid from the centrist Future Party warned: “If the Israeli government starts the dispute over the Supreme Court again, it means that they have learned nothing. That they learned nothing from October 7th and from 87 days of fighting for our home.” (so with afp/dpa)