Israel’s Supreme Court convened on Tuesday to begin considering whether to strike down a deeply contentious law that limits the court’s own power, in a hearing that sets the stage for a constitutional showdown between the country’s judicial and executive branches of power.
The high court is considering a bill passed by Parliament in July that ruled that judges could no longer overrule ministerial decisions using the legal standard of “reasonableness.”
The case is considered one of the most consequential in Israeli history, because Israelis from all political backgrounds say the country’s future and character partly depends on the hearing’s result. Justices could take until January to reach a decision.
The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — the most nationalist and religious conservative in Israel’s history — sees the court as an obstacle to its vision of a more conservative, nationalist society. The court has historically acted as a check on religious influence on public life, some Israeli activity in the occupied West Bank, and decisions that favor Jews over Arabs.
The opposition considers the court a guarantor of Israel’s secular character, a protector of its minorities, and a bulwark against authoritarianism.
With the legislation passed in July, the government sought to bar the court from using the standard of “reasonableness” in adjudicating cases on the grounds that it was too flexible, and had in the past given unelected judges too much room to meddle in decisions by elected lawmakers. The coalition said that the court still had several other tools with which it could restrain government influence.
Yariv Levin, the justice minister, said on Tuesday morning that the court’s decision to review the law was “a mortal injury to the rule of the people.”
In a statement, Mr. Levin added that by seeking to rule on its own power, the court “places itself above the government, above Parliament, above the people and above the law. This situation is completely contrary to democracy.”
The court will hear arguments from eight petitioners against the law, most of them civil society organizations that campaign for good governance.
The law’s opponents argue that the legislation undermines Israeli democracy by limiting the power of the Supreme Court, which is the main check on government overreach. Israel has no written constitution and no second chamber of Parliament, increasing the court’s importance as a counterweight to the power of the cabinet and the legislature.
Eliad Shraga, who leads one of the groups petitioning against the law, said on Tuesday that he hoped the court hearing would “ruin the regime coup.”
“This is a historical day, a historical event,” Mr. Shraga added, shortly before entering the courtroom with his sons. “I hope that it will be a red light to the regime.”
The law is one part of a wider legislative package, the rest of which the government has so far failed to implement….
2023-09-12 01:20:19
Post from www.nytimes.com
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