Israel's Supreme Court overturns judicial reform
A year ago, the Israeli government whipped a controversial judicial reform through parliament. The plans divided the Israeli population and distracted them, which Hamas presumably exploited on October 7. Now Israel's highest judges are making a ruling with far-reaching consequences. A state crisis is looming.
In a dramatic decision, Israel's Supreme Court has overturned a core element of the country's controversial judicial reform. Eight out of 15 judges were in favor of declaring an amendment to the law passed in July null and void, as the court announced. The amendment to the constitution had 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 important posts. The ruling stated that the amendment to the law would have "caused serious and unprecedented damage to the core characteristics of the State of Israel as a democratic state".
Never before in Israel's history has a comparable law been overturned by the Supreme Court. If the right-wing religious government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not accept the decision, the country is threatened with a national crisis. The government had pushed through the amendment to the law despite massive opposition in parliament. As a result, Israel's Supreme Court convened a historic court hearing in September. For the first time in the country's history, all 15 judges came together to deliberate on eight petitions against the adopted amendment to the Basic Law.
Reason for carelessness?
The judicial reform, which has been massively promoted by the government since it was sworn in a year ago, had deeply divided Israeli society. For months, hundreds of thousands of people repeatedly took to the streets to protest against it. Critics classified the government's actions as a threat to Israel's democracy. Netanyahu's government, on the other hand, argued that the court was too powerful in Israel and that they merely wanted to restore a balance.
Negotiations on a compromise were unsuccessful. Many saw the months of heated disputes as one reason why Israel could be so surprised by the devastating attack by the Islamist Hamas in the border region on October 7.
Israel's Justice Minister Yariv Levin criticized the publication of the ruling. "The chief justices' decision to publish the verdict during the war is the opposite of the spirit of unity that is needed these days for our fighters on the front lines to succeed," Levin said, according to the Israeli news site ynet. "The verdict, which has no equal in any Western democracy, will not discourage us. While the battle continues on various fronts, we will continue to act with restraint and responsibility."
Setback for Netanyahu
The Israeli broadcaster N12 had leaked a draft of the Supreme Court's ruling. For formal reasons, the court had until January 12 to publish its decision. Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who is considered the driving force behind the reform, had nevertheless asked the court to postpone the announcement of the verdict until after the war. "While our soldiers are fighting side by side on different fronts, and while the entire nation is mourning the loss of many lives, the people of Israel must not be torn apart by disputes," argued Levin.
For Netanyahu, the ruling is a further setback. Since October 7, he had lost a massive amount of popularity in the polls. Many resent the fact that he has not yet admitted any personal responsibility for allowing the Hamas massacre on October 7 to happen.
It is unclear how the government will react to the verdict. 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 ruling against the amendment: "I believe we should abide by the rulings of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court should abide by the basic laws that parliament passes."
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The right-wing religious government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a potential national crisis if they do not accept the Supreme Court's decision to overturn a core element of Israel's controversial judicial reform. This overturning, a first in Israel's history, was in response to an amendment that critics argued could encourage corruption and the arbitrary appointment of important posts, potentially causing significant damage to Israel's democratic state.
Source: www.ntv.de
