The Israeli Parliament passed a law that limits the Supreme Court’s ability to overturn decisions made by government ministers, completing the first stage of a wider and deeply contentious effort to curb the influence of the judiciary.
The court is now barred from overruling the national
government using the
legal standard of “reasonableness,” a concept that judges previously
used to block ministerial appointments and contest planning decisions, among
other government measures.
The enactment of the law is the government’s first
victory in a seven-month effort to reduce the court’s power. Previous plans
that would have allowed Parliament to overrule the court’s decisions and give
the government more sway over who gets to be a Supreme Court justice were
suspended by the government in March, after
an eruption of street protests, labor strikes and disquiet in the military.
Right-wing ministers and lawmakers took selfies in the
parliamentary plenum rule to celebrate their victory. The vote was 64 in favor
and zero against, after members of the opposition left the chamber, boycotting
the vote they had no chance of winning.
The new law passed despite a similar level of
opposition, as well as criticism from the Biden administration. Large parts of
the country fear that the legislation undermines the quality of Israel’s
democracy and will allow the government — the most ultranationalist and
ultraconservative in Israeli history — to build a less pluralist society.
The government and its supporters say that the
legislation will in fact improve democracy by giving elected lawmakers greater
autonomy over unelected judges, allowing them to more easily carry out the
policies that they were elected to enact. The court can still overrule the
government using other legal measures.
This disagreement is part of a much wider and
long-running social dispute about the nature and future of Israeli society. The
ruling coalition and its base generally have a more religious and conservative
vision, and see the court as an obstacle to that goal. The opposition tends to
have a more secular and diverse vision, and consider the court as a
standard-bearer for their cause.
Right-wing ministers and lawmakers took selfies in the
parliamentary plenum rule to celebrate their victory. The vote was 64 in favor
and zero against, after members of the opposition left the chamber, boycotting
the vote they had no chance of winning.
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