Israel’s top court strikes down government’s controversial judicial overhaul
Supreme Court of Israel
Israel's Supreme Court on Monday (Jan 1) ruled against a key component of the government's controversial legal overhaul. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had passed the highly disputed law, which challenged the powers of the judiciary.
The law was part of a broader judicial overhaul and his coalition of partners which caused a deep rift in the nation as it led to mass protests that abated amid the ongoing war in Gaza, which started after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.
During the protests, tens of thousands of demonstrators had rallied weekly against the government reforms.
The statement by the Supreme Court said eight of 15 justices had ruled against an amendment passed by parliament in July which scraps the "reasonableness" clause, used by the court to overturn government decisions which are deemed unconstitutional.
The decision has not been welcomed by the government as Justice Minister Yariv Levin slammed the top court for "taking all powers".
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Levin, who is the architect of the judicial overhaul, said on Telegram that in their ruling, "judges are taking into their hands all the powers, which in a democratic regime are divided in a balanced way between the three branches" of government."It takes away from millions of citizens their voice," Levin added.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich slammed that decision, calling it "extreme and divisive".
The new legislation brought before the court had removed one, but not all, of the tools the Supreme Court has for quashing government and ministers' decisions. It took away the court's ability to void such decisions that it deemed "unreasonable".
Twelve of 15 justices ruled that it was within the court's parameters to strike down quasi-constitutional "basic laws". A smaller majority of eight ruled to nullify this specific basic law, which the court said "causes severe and unprecedented harm to the core characteristics of Israel as a democratic state."
(With input from agencies)