Israel: Supreme Court steps back from blocking laws that limit its power, schedules showdown for September
The proposals include a bill that would allow a simple majority in Parliament to overturn Supreme Court decisions. Another would give parliament the final say in selecting judges.
Nearly two days after the first piece of that controversial legislative package passed in the Israeli Parliament, the country's Supreme Court said it will not issue an injunction to temporarily block a new law that curbs its power. The court said that it would debate the law in September.
On Monday, lawmakers approved a measure that prevents judges from striking down government decisions on the basis that they are “unreasonable.”
The overhaul called for sweeping changes aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary. The proposals include a bill that would allow a simple majority in Parliament to overturn Supreme Court decisions. Another would give parliament the final say in selecting judges.
WHAT’S IN ISRAEL'S JUDICIAL OVERHAUL?The overhaul calls for sweeping changes aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary. The proposals include a bill that would allow a simple majority in Parliament to overturn Supreme Court decisions. Another would give parliament the final say in selecting judges. Netanyahu’s ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox religious allies say the package is meant to restore power to elected officials — and reduce the powers of unelected judges.
Protesters, who make up a wide cross-section of Israeli society, fear the overhaul will push Israel toward autocracy. They say it is a power grab fueled by various personal and political grievances by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, and his allies.
On Monday, Parliament approved a bill that takes away the Supreme Court’s power to override government decisions that the court finds “unreasonable.”
WHY PROTESTORS TOOK TO THE STREETSProponents say the current “reasonability” standard gives judges excessive powers over decision-making by elected officials. But critics say that removing the standard, which is invoked only in rare cases, would allow the government to pass arbitrary decisions, make improper appointments or firings and open the door to corruption.
Protesters say Netanyahu and his allies want to change the law so they can appoint cronies to government posts — and particularly so that they can fire the country’s independent attorney general, according to Amir Fuchs, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.
The measures “make it more difficult to conduct oversight” over arbitrary decisions of elected officials, said Yohanan Plesner, the institute’s president. “This is one chapter of a broader plan and program of the government to weaken the checks and balances.” Netanyahu has dismissed accusations that the plan would destroy Israel’s democratic foundations as absurd. “This is an attempt to mislead you over something that has no basis in reality,” he said.
Given Israel’s relatively weak system of checks and balances, the judiciary plays a large role in checking executive power in the country. In the US for example, Congress has two houses that operate independently of the president and can limit his power. But in Israel, the prime minister and his majority coalition in parliament work in tandem. That leaves the judiciary as “the only check on governmental power,” according to constitutional law professor Amichai Cohen.
Israel also has minimal local governance and lacks a formal constitution. This means that most of the power is centralized in parliament, Cohen said. The “basic laws” — foundational laws that experts describe as a sort of informal constitution — can be changed at any time by a bare majority.
With the overhaul, Cohen said, the Israeli Parliament now threatens to further consolidate its power by weakening the judiciary. “The government can do whatever it wants because it controls the ability to change even the basic laws,” Cohen said. Historically, the Israeli judiciary has played a role in protecting the rights of minorities, from Palestinian citizens of Israel to noncitizens and African asylum seekers, Cohen said.
By weakening the judiciary, critics say, Israel’s government — led by a male-dominated coalition whose members have advocated full annexation of the occupied West Bank, discriminating against LGBTQ+ people and Palestinian citizens of Israel, and limiting the rights of women — will be granted near-total control. “It will be a hollow democracy,” said Fuchs.
Also Read: EXPLAINED: What is Israel's judicial overhaul and why is it so controversial?