Dr. Aviad Bakshi argues that "one of the first tasks of the expanding coalition will be ... to balance and delineate the proper scope of judicial review in Israel" ("Israel Today", March 31, 2020). The basis of the claim is, of course, judicial activism. Intervening in political affairs or expanding its powers, no limitation was necessary, if it were not so activist, no political backlash was needed.

This is an illusion. Like a kid who gets a finger and wants the whole hand, the "conservatives" don't settle for - and won't do - judicial restraint. After anchoring the judicial review, a cease-fire will be sought. Then control the appointment of judges, add non-judgmental politics and abolish the right to stand. Then they will ask for a British model where the court cannot abolish legislation. Then they will seek to cut back on the judiciary. How do I know?

See England, if democracies, where there is no broad "cause of action" and the court is not empowered to repeal legislation, only declare its non-conformity with human rights law. This is the pink dream of Israeli conservatism. In April 2018, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared that the model The Canadian cease-fire is "too weak" and should promote a "British model," which would invalidate courts' authority to rule out laws. Well, in England, conservative forces are calling for a cut of the court's wings.

Recently, Conservative MPs have called for the Supreme Court to abolish the Supreme Court, following its decision to ban parliamentary suspension. This is a British D9. New Attorney General Suella Braverman also seeks to "take back control of the courts." The judicial power project "calling for limitation of powers in the court, for controlling the executive branch in appointing judges, and for turning the Supreme Court into an appeal court that will focus only on dispute resolution. The rise of the judiciary has been argued to threaten government, democracy and the rule of law. According to the project, the court will review parliamentary decisions or the discretion of the executive branch. In short, absolute authority is sought by conservatives for the political authorities.

This concept of unlimited governmental power is the same as the popular populist concept today in Poland and Hungary. In Poland, the Justice and Justice Party, which came to power in 2015, dismantled the state's balances and brakes and seized control of the Constitutional Court. , Control the appointment of judges and declare Hungary a "non-liberal state".

The conceptual basis on which populist rule is based is that the majority represents the omnipotent sovereign people, and therefore restrictions on the majority power, such as judicial review, gatekeepers and balancing systems, are not democratic and should be weakened or removed.

Judicial restraint, therefore, will not satisfy the appetite of a government that seeks to remove any restrictions on its governmental power. Except for a rubber stamp, one would never want such a rule. Therefore, while it is appropriate to think about a proper set of judicial review mechanisms in Israel, it should be made sure that this is done only for those who are at ease, and not under the pressure of a government seeking to remove any limitation on its power.

Prof. Yaniv Rosenai is a faculty member at the Harry Radziner School of Law at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya