The Israeli Supreme Court on Monday ruled against a key component of the government’s controversial legal overhaul, which challenged the powers of the judiciary and sparked mass protests.
A Supreme Court statement said eight of 15 justices had ruled against an amendment passed by parliament in July last year which scraps the “reasonableness” clause, used by the court to overturn government decisions which are deemed unconstitutional.
“This is due to the severe and unprecedented damage to the basic characteristics of the State of Israel as a democratic state,” the statement said.
Photo: Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had argued the sweeping judicial reform agenda presented a year ago was necessary to rebalance powers between judges and politicians, but his detractors said that the multipronged package could pave the way for authoritarian rule and be used by Netanyahu to quash possible convictions against him in his ongoing corruption trial, an accusation the prime minister denies.
Israel does not have a constitution or upper house of parliament.
The “reasonableness” measure — which is part of one of the Basic Laws that form Israel’s quasi-constitution — was put in place to allow judges to determine whether a government had overreached its powers.
Israeli Minister of Justice Yariv Levin, the architect of the judicial overhaul, said on Telegram that the ruling “takes away from millions of citizens their voice.”
He criticized the judges for “taking into their hands all the powers, which in a democratic regime are divided in a balanced way between the three branches” of government.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid welcomed the verdict and warned of the resurgence of internal divisions in Israeli society.
“The Supreme Court faithfully fulfilled its role in protecting the citizens of Israel, and we give it our full backing,” Lapid wrote on social media.
If the government “restarts the quarrel” over the court, “then they have learned nothing ... from 87 days of war,” he wrote, referring to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Protest leaders, who had mobilized tens of thousands of demonstrators, also welcomed the ruling.
“The high court’s ruling removes, at least for the moment, the sword of dictatorship from around our necks,” prominent organizer Shikma Bressler said in a video statement.
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