In the middle of the Gaza war, Israel's highest judges make a ruling of great consequence. It is a further setback for the already ailing Prime Minister Netanyahu. A national crisis is looming.
Tel Aviv – In a dramatic decision, Israel's Supreme Court has overturned a core element of the country's controversial judicial reform. A razor-thin majority of eight of the 15 judges were in favor of annulling a change in the law passed in July, the court announced.
The amendment to the Basic Law deprived the court of the opportunity to take action against “inappropriate” decisions by the government, the Prime Minister or individual ministers. Critics had warned that this could encourage corruption and the arbitrary appointment of key posts. Accordingly, representatives of the democracy movement and the opposition praised the Supreme Court's ruling.
Its justification stated that the change in the law would have “caused serious and unprecedented damage to the core characteristics of the State of Israel as a democratic state.”
A national crisis is looming
In Israel's history, a comparable law has never been struck down by the Supreme Court. If the right-wing religious government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not accept the decision, the country will face a state crisis.
The government pushed through the change in the law despite massive resistance in parliament. Israel's Supreme Court then convened in September for a historic trial. For the first time in the country's history, all 15 judges came together to discuss eight petitions against the adopted amendment to the Basic Law.
Protests for many months
The judicial reform, which the government had massively pushed forward since it was sworn in a year ago, had deeply divided Israeli society. For months, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against it. Critics viewed the government's actions as a threat to Israel's democracy. Netanyahu's government, however, argued that the court was too powerful in Israel and that it simply wanted to restore balance. Negotiations for a compromise were unsuccessful.
Many saw the months of heated disputes as one reason why Israel was so surprised by the devastating attack by the Islamist Hamas in the border area on October 7th. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Monday that Hamas may have carried out its attack on October 7 because it believed Israeli society was in chaos.
The Israeli broadcaster N12 leaked a draft of the Supreme Court's ruling. For formal reasons, the court had until January 12th to publish its decision. Justice Minister Jariv Levin, who is seen as the driving force behind the reform, had nevertheless asked the court to postpone the verdict until after the war. “As our soldiers fight side by side on various fronts, and as the entire nation mourns the loss of many lives, the people of Israel must not be torn apart by strife,” Levin argued.
The verdict is another setback for Netanyahu. He had lost massively in popularity in polls since October 7th. Many people resent him for not yet admitting personal responsibility for allowing the Hamas massacre to happen.
Israel's Movement for Quality Government called it a “historic day” after the Supreme Court's ruling on Monday. “This is a huge public victory for those fighting for democracy,” the organization said in an initial statement. She had submitted one of a total of eight petitions against the amendment to the Basic Law passed in parliament in July.
Israeli opposition leader Jair Lapid also expressed support for the Supreme Court. The court faithfully fulfilled its mandate to protect the citizens of Israel. “We give the Supreme Court our full support,” Lapid wrote on the X platform, formerly Twitter.
The President of the German-Israeli Society (DIG), Volker Beck, also welcomed the verdict as a victory for the rule of law in Israel. “The restrictions on the powers of the Supreme Court when the majority of the Knesset makes inappropriate decisions are therefore unlawful. “The law prevails over the will of the political majority,” he wrote in a statement. “It remains to be hoped that the majority of the Knesset will recognize that it is not above the law.”
Netanyahu's Likud party criticizes the verdict
In a statement, Netanyahu's right-wing conservative Likud party criticized both the verdict and the timing chosen by the court for its announcement. “The court decision contradicts the people's will for unity, especially in times of war.” Justice Minister Levin made a similar statement, according to the ynet news site, but emphasized that they would not be discouraged by the verdict.
Israeli Parliament Speaker Amir Ochana even denied the Supreme Court the authority to declare basic laws null and void. This is “obvious,” Ochana sai
d, according to media reports. “It is even more obvious that we cannot deal with this while the war is at its peak,” Ochana said.
“The verdict must be respected,” wrote Benny Gantz, minister in Israel's war cabinet, on Platform election would currently be by far the strongest faction.
It is unclear how the government will react to the ruling in practice. In an interview with the US broadcaster CNN in September, Netanyahu did not want to give a clear answer to the question of whether he would respect a court decision against the change in the law. Netanyahu said at the time: “I believe we should adhere to the rulings of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court should adhere to the basic laws that parliament passes.” dpa
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