Israeli Supreme Court hears challenge to judicial revamp
JERUSALEM — Israel’s Supreme Court heard the first challenge Tuesday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious judicial overhaul, deepening a showdown with the far-right government that has bitterly divided the nation and put it on the brink of a constitutional crisis.
Netanyahu’s coalition, a collection of ultranationalist and ultrareligious lawmakers, unveiled the overhaul earlier this year, saying it was necessary to rein in an unelected judiciary they believe wields too much power.
Critics say the plan — which would weaken the Supreme Court — is a profound threat to Israeli democracy and that it would concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu and his allies.
They say the court is a key counterweight on majority rule in a country with an otherwise weak system of checks and balances — with just one house of parliament where the governing coalition is headed by the prime minister. The country’s president has largely ceremonial powers, and there is no written constitution.
The case that opened Tuesday focuses on the first law passed by parliament in July — a measure that cancels the court’s ability to strike down government moves it deems to be “unreasonable.” Judges have used the legal standard in rare cases to prevent government decisions or appointments viewed as unsound or corrupt.
The hearing puts Israel’s Supreme Court in the unprecedented position of deciding whether to accept limits on its own powers. In a sign of the case’s significance, all 15 justices are hearing the appeal together for the first time in the country’s history, rather than the typical smaller panels. The proceedings were also livestreamed and aired on the country’s main TV stations.
A ruling is not expected for weeks or even months, but the session Tuesday could hint at the court’s direction. The marathon hearing was largely businesslike, though at times the arguments became tense and heated.
In one exchange, Simcha Rothman, a senior lawmaker who shepherded the overhaul through parliament, insisted the court could not be trusted to decide its own fate.
“Can you be the ones to judge this without fear, without prejudice, without bias? Because you are dealing with your own honor and status,” Rothman told the chief justice. “And you talk about the Knesset’s conflict of interest?”
Hayut chided him, responding that the court does not deal with its own status but rather “the essential interests of the public.”
Netanyahu has not said whether he would respect a decision by the court to strike down the new law. Some members of his coalition have hinted that the government could ignore the court’s decision.
Legal experts warn that could spark a constitutional crisis, where citizens and the country’s security forces are left to decide whose orders to follow — the parliament’s or the court’s.
The political survival of Netanyahu, who returned to power late last year while standing trial on bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges, is also bound up with the overhaul. His hardline, religiously conservative coalition partners have threatened to rebel if he doesn’t see the legislation through, and critics say Netanyahu could use the overhaul to get the charges against him dismissed.
The plan has infuriated people across many segments of Israeli society. Hundreds of thousands poured into the streets in repeated mass protests for the past 36 weeks.
Opponents of the plan come largely from the country’s secular middle class.
Netanyahu’s supporters tend to be poorer, more religious and live in West Bank settlements or outlying rural areas. Many are working-class Mizrahi Jews, with roots in Middle Eastern countries, and have expressed hostility toward what they say is an elitist, secular class of Ashkenazi, or European, Jews.