Israel Supreme Court annuls controversial judicial reform law

By eight votes to seven, the Court revoked the law that removes the power of the court itself to review and annul government decisions based on their reasonableness or not. The decision represents a significant blow to Netanyahu. Israel's Supreme Court on Monday revoked a key element of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial judicial reform, which restricts the powers of the judiciary in several ways and which brought hundreds of thousands of people against the project to the streets in protests that only cooled down with the start of the current conflict in the Middle East, against the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas.

Eight of the 15 judges voted to revoke the measure that suppresses the right of the judiciary to rule on the “reasonableness” of decisions by the Israeli government or parliament, according to the Ministry of Justice, in a statement. The Supreme Court's decision is a response to eight appeals filed by entities such as the Movement for Quality Government in Israel.

According to the Court, the measure was annulled due to “the severe and unprecedented danger to the essence of the State of Israel as a democratic country”.

Government criticism

The Israeli government criticized the court's decision, taken “in the midst of war [na Faixa de Gaza]which goes against the unity necessary these days for the success” of the military on the front line of combat.

“In fact, the judges [do Supremo Tribunal] took into their hands, with this decision, all the powers that, in a democratic regime, are distributed in a balanced way between the three powers [executivo, legislativo e judiciário]”, wrote Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Telegram.

The court also voted – but this time with a clear majority, 12 against three – against the claim that it did not have the legitimacy to reverse the country's Basic Laws, considered as a Constitution for Israel.

Blow for Netanyahu

The law struck down by the Court had been approved in July by Parliament. This is the first of a reform of the Israeli judicial system, which led to months of massive protests against the government.

The ruling represents a significant blow to Netanyahu and his allies, who had argued that national lawmakers, not the Supreme Court, should have the final say on the legality of legislation and other key decisions.

The judges ruled that the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, does not have “omnipresent power”.

Netanyahu and his allies announced the broad reform plan shortly after taking power about a year ago. The prime minister and his supporters claim the changes are aimed at strengthening democracy by limiting the authority of unelected judges and handing more power to elected people.

The opposition and critics of the reform see it as an assault on power by Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and an attack on a key oversight body.

Threat from reservists

Before the start of the war against Hamas, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in weekly protests against the government, including retired military personnel such as fighter pilots who said they would stop reporting for duty if the reform was approved.

Reservists, on whom the Israeli army relies heavily, responded promptly to the call following the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, demonstrating unity. However, it is not clear what will happen if there is an insistence on the approval of the reform, which could lead to the resumption of protests and, in this case, call into question national unity and military readiness, culminating in soldiers refusing to report. to the service, as they have already threatened.

The Israeli prime minister governs based on a majority coalition in parliament, which in practice gives him control of the executive and legislative powers. According to critics, with the measure, he would also have control of the Judiciary. And this with the aggravating factor that Netanyahu is facing charges of corruption in the Judiciary.

Netanyahu's coalition argues that the Supreme Court currently wields too much political influence, and that reform would be necessary to control some judges considered activists and establish a real balance between the government and the judiciary.

Netanyahu's allies include ultranationalist and religious parties, with a list of grievances against the court, and who have called for more settlement construction in the West Bank, annexation of occupied territories and limiting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and Palestinians.

le (EFE, Lusa, ots)