Threats to Supreme Court test fragile democracy

JERUSALEM — Israel’s Supreme Court, widely seen as a guardian of the country’s founding democratic principles, is facing fierce pressure from political hard-liners who are challenging what they see as the court’s overreach and liberal slant.

The stepped-up rhetoric and attempts to shackle the court are testing Israel’s fragile democracy at a time when members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nationalist government have led an onslaught of attacks against the country’s liberal institutions, stirring up populist sentiment and deepening a rift with the country’s moderates.

The court’s critics want it to tone down what they see as its overt activism and demand a rethink of the institution’s role in society. But some observers see the campaign against the court as crossing a line.

“The attacks, the incitement is very worrying,” said Dalia Dorner, a former Supreme Court judge. “Without an independent court there is no democracy.”

In Israel, a country with a robust press and rowdy politics, criticism of the court isn’t unusual, but its opponents rarely seek to curb its authority. It also comes as Netanyahu’s hawkish coalition government, dominated by religious and nationalist parties, has escalated criticism of many of Israel’s liberal bastions in the arts, news media and civil society, and pledged or carried out legislative action against them.

“The goal is clear: to dismantle, crush and destroy the foundations of the liberal Israeli democracy as we’ve known it, as we established it, as our forefathers dreamt it. All means are kosher,” commentator Ben Caspit wrote in the Maariv daily.

Israel’s Supreme Court has stood as an arbiter on landmark issues, such as the balance between religion and state or controversial military tactics like targeted assassinations of wanted militants. It is known for its independence and has been cursed by right-wing and leftwing governments alike.

Palestinians and dovish civil society groups turn to the Supreme Court to rule on the legality of settlement construction or the terms of arrest of prisoners, among others. It is among the country’s most trusted institutions, especially among Israel’s minority Arab population.

The court has also been used by lawmakers to score political points, a place where they can send popular but legally questionable laws to die.