Israel's Supreme Court on Monday invalidated a key provision of the prime minister's highly controversial judicial reform. A decision made in the midst of the war between the Jewish state and Hamas and before the terrorist attack by the Palestinian movement, the project sparked one of the most important movements in Israeli history.
This is a serious setback for Benjamin Netanyahu. The prime minister of the Hebrew state, already blamed on the international stage for the Tel Aviv-led Israeli offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has been snubbed by his country's Supreme Court. On Monday, January 1, the institution repealed a key provision of the highly controversial judicial reform pushed by its government. The project sparked one of the largest protest movements in Israel's history, which has since been eclipsed by the war and Hamas' October 7 terrorist attacks on Hebrew territory.
A “historic” decision
With this decision, the Supreme Court is bringing the issue back to the fore. The invalid measure sought to deprive the judiciary of the right to decide on the “reasonableness” of decisions made by the Israeli government or parliament. Eight of the court's 15 justices voted to overturn the measure. A hard blow that Benjamin Netanyahu's government immediately denounced. Justice Minister Yariv Levin accused the organization on Telegram of “taking over all powers.”
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The number two in the government and architect of the reform also criticized a decision “that was made in the middle of the war and runs counter to the unity that is necessary for the success of our fighters at the front these days.” An accusation that was widely echoed in the ranks of the government and in particular in Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud, which found it “regrettable” that the Supreme Court decided to publish its ruling at the center of a social debate in Israel, while the right-wing Soldiers have decided and leftists are fighting and risking their lives.
For his part, opposition leader Yaïr Lapid welcomed this decision, which allows the institution to “faithfully fulfill its role in protecting the citizens of Israel.” This “ends a difficult year full of conflicts that have torn us apart from within and led to the worst catastrophe in our history,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), referring to the Hamas attack on October 7th. The Righteousness of Power Movement, which appealed the clause, hailed a “historic” decision.
“Basic laws” that serve as a constitution
The Supreme Court says it has the power to invalidate a constitution “in rare and exceptional cases where Parliament exceeds its powers.” Because in Israel these basic laws serve as a constitution. Before October 7, tens of thousands of people demonstrated against the text almost every Saturday across the country. For its part, the coalition government, which brings together right-wing, far-right parties and ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups, assured that the text aims to correct an imbalance by strengthening the power of elected officials over that of judges.
Israel has neither a constitution nor the equivalent of an upper house of parliament, and the doctrine of “reasonableness” has been used precisely to allow judges to determine whether a government is overstepping its prerogatives. In January 2023, the Supreme Court therefore invalidated the appointment of Arié Deri, a close friend of Benjamin Netanyahu, as Interior Minister, on the grounds that he had been found guilty of tax fraud and that it was therefore not “reasonable” for him to serve Government. Critics of the reform accuse the prime minister, who is accused of corruption, of wanting to use this reform to soften a possible sentence against him, which he denies.
AB with AFP