Comptroller rejects Ohana request to probe A-G,

Rather, the decision told us a lot about where the judicial system stands right now in its relationship with the other branches of government and with the general public – and about the longer-term battles on the horizon for the shape of Israeli democracy.

Of course, there will be battles between Blue and White and the High Court justices on one side, versus the Likud and any allies they have on the Judicial Selection Committee on the other side, over selecting several justices and a new chief justice by October 2023.

But the greatest battles will still be over whether the Knesset will finally give itself a veto over the High Court in the coming term – and whether it will, at any point in the foreseeable future, bind itself to a constitution or some permanent “rules of the game” that cannot be summarily swatted away every few years.

Until the Knesset has some way to override a High Court veto – and until the Knesset binds itself to some serious principles that a bare majority of the government cannot easily scrap – the tensions between the branches will continue.

Just as important, until some of these boundaries are set, the High Court will continue to be heavily impacted by public opinion in the rawest sense, and not merely in the natural way that any court made up of human beings reflects some trends of the society in which they live.

Make no mistake: Even if the court is less political than other branches, it can still be pressured by public opinion – sometimes to the Right and sometimes to the Left.

Going one step further, during the upcoming years when Netanyahu is on trial for bribery, absent creating a new set of boundaries, the attacks on the judicial branch are likely to skyrocket to new levels.

Those on one side of the spectrum will need to worry that the courts might be more likely to convict Netanyahu because of these attacks and so the justices can pave the way for a prime minister more friendly to them.

Those on the other side will need to worry that the courts may grant Netanyahu leniency out of fear that if they do not, he may radically alter and reduce the power of the judiciary.