Court strikes down Netanyahu's attempt to curb its ruling powers
JERUSALEM >> Israel's Supreme Court on Monday struck down a law limiting its own powers, a momentous step in the legal and political crisis that gripped the country before the war with Hamas, and pitted the court against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government.
The court's 8-7 ruling has the potential to throw Israel's national emergency government, formed after the Oct. 7 attacks, into disarray and reignite the grave domestic turmoil that began a year ago over the Netanyahu government's judicial overhaul plan. Mass protests brought the country to a near-standstill at times, in one of the deepest political upheavals Israel had faced in its 75 years, and led to warnings of possible civil war.
The court, sitting with a full panel of all 15 justices for the first time in its history, rejected the law passed by parliament in July that barred judges from using a particular legal standard to overrule decisions made by government ministers.
The decision comes at a precarious time for Israel, deeply engaged in a brutal war in the Gaza Strip and under nearly daily rocket fire from Iranian-backed militants along its northern border. It is seeking to project an image of strength to its enemies but has been shaken by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led surprise attack, by a shrinking economy, and by the alarm and pressure from its closest allies over the deaths of thousands of civilians in Gaza.
The much-anticipated decision did not come as a total surprise to Israelis. A television station last week reported on a leaked draft of the ruling. But it heralds a potential showdown that could fundamentally reshape Israeli democracy, pitting the power of the government against that of the judiciary.
The divisions over the law are part of a wider ideological and cultural standoff.
Netanyahu's political allies and their supporters want to make Israel into a more religious and nationalist state. Their opponents, who hold a more secular and pluralist vision of the country, accused the government of undermining democracy by lowering the barriers to a majority doing whatever it pleases.
The ruling was swiftly denounced by Netanyahu's allies, who in late 2022 formed the most rightwing and religiously conservative government in Israel's history. The prime minister's Likud party said the decision was “in opposition to the nation's desire for unity, especially in a time of war.” In a statement, it slammed the court for ruling on the issue when Israeli soldiers are “fighting and endangering themselves in battle.”
Yariv Levin, the Israeli justice minister widely seen as the architect of the judicial overhaul, vowed to resume efforts to pass the package of controversial bills that included the newly overturned measure. He accused the high court of sowing divisiveness at a time when the nation is in danger.
“The Supreme Court judges' decision to publish their ruling in the middle of a war is the opposite of the spirit of unity that we need in these days so our troops can succeed at the front,” Levin said.
Critics of Netanyahu and his allies have argued that, in fact, the government's fixation on weakening the independence of the judiciary contributed to Israel being caught off guard by the Oct. 7 assault by Hamas that touched off the war, killed 1,200 people and seized more than 240 hostages, according to authorities.
Yair Lapid, the parliamentary opposition leader, hailed the court for “faithfully fulfilling its duty.”
Hours before the court made its decision public, the Israeli military said it would begin withdrawing several thousand troops from Gaza. Citing a growing toll on the Israeli economy after nearly three months of wartime mobilization, Israel will send home reservists from at least two brigades this week; three other brigades will be taken back for training, potentially removing thousands of soldiers from the war effort.