Status: 01.01.2024, 21:31 PM
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Another setback for Prime Minister Netanyahu: Israel's Supreme Court has overturned a core element of the controversial judicial reform. © Abir Sultan/Pool EPA/AP/dpa
In the midst of the Gaza war, Israel's highest judges deliver a verdict of far-reaching consequences. For the already ailing Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is another setback. A national crisis is looming.
Tel Aviv - In a dramatic decision, Israel's Supreme Court has overturned a core element of the country's controversial judicial reform. A razor-thin majority of eight of the 15 judges were in favor of annulling an amendment to the law passed in July, the court announced.
The amendment to the Basic Law 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 filling of important posts. Accordingly, representatives of the democracy movement and the opposition praised the Supreme Court's ruling.
The statement stated that the amendment had "caused grave and unprecedented damage to the core characteristics of the State of Israel as a democratic state."
A national crisis looms
Never before in Israel's history has a comparable law been struck down 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. Israel's Supreme Court then convened in September for a historic trial. For the first time in the country's history, all 15 judges met to deliberate on eight petitions against the adopted amendment to the Basic Law.
Protests over many months
The government's massive judicial reform since its swearing-in a year ago had deeply divided Israeli society. For months, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against it. Critics saw 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 it only wanted to restore balance. Negotiations on a compromise had been unsuccessful.
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In Israel, there have been repeated protests over the controversial judicial reform. © Tsafrir Abayov/AP/dpa
Many saw the months of fierce disputes as one reason why Israel was so caught off guard by the devastating attack by Islamist Hamas in the border area on October 7. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Monday that Hamas may have carried out its raid on October 7 because it believed Israeli society was in chaos.
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 Jariv Levin, who is considered the driving force behind the reform, had nevertheless called on the court to postpone the sentencing until after the war. "As our soldiers fight side by side on various fronts, and as the whole nation mourns the loss of many lives, the people of Israel must not be torn apart by strife," Levin argued.
For Netanyahu, the verdict is another setback. In the polls, he had lost massive popularity since October 7. Many resent him for not admitting any personal responsibility for the Hamas massacre.
The Israeli Movement for Quality Government spoke of a "historic day" after the Supreme Court's ruling on Monday. "This is a huge public victory for those who fight for democracy," the organization said in an initial statement. She had submitted one of a total of eight petitions against the amendment to the Basic Law, which was passed in parliament in July.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid also expressed his support for the Supreme Court. The court has faithfully fulfilled its mandate to protect the citizens of Israel. "We give full backing to the Supreme Court," Lapid wrote on Platform X, formerly Twitter.
The president of the German-Israeli Society (DIG), Volker Beck, also welcomed the verdict as a victory for the rule of law in Israel. "The restrictions on the powers of the Supreme Court in the case of more inappropriate decisions by the majority of the Knesset are therefore unlawful. The law takes precedence over the political will of the majority," he wrote in a statement. "It is to be hoped that the majority of the Knesset will recognize that it is not above the law."
Netanyahu's Likud party criticizes verdict
Netanyahu's right-wing conservative Likud party criticized both the verdict and the court's timing for its announcement in a statement. "The court's decision contradicts the people's desire for unity, especially in times of war." Justice Minister Levin made a similar statement, according to the Ynet news site, but stressed that they would not be discouraged by the ruling.
The speaker of the Israeli parliament, Amir Ochana, even denied the Supreme Court the authority to declare basic laws null and void. This is "obvious," Ochana said, according to media reports. "It's even more obvious that we can't deal with this while the war is at its peak," Ochana said.
"The verdict must be respected," Benny Gantz, a minister in Israel's war cabinet, wrote on Platform X. The relationship between the country's authorities must be regulated, but only after the war, stressed Gantz, whose party, according to recent polls, would currently become by far the strongest faction in an election.
It is unclear how the government will now react to the ruling in practice. In an interview with CNN in September, Netanyahu did not want to give a clear answer to the question of whether he would respect a court decision against the amendment. Netanyahu said at the time: "I believe we should abide by the rulings of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court should abide by the basic laws that the parliament passes." dpa