The Israeli Supreme Court invalidates a major provision of the controversial judicial reform law

The Israeli Supreme Court decided, by a majority of its judges, on Monday to invalidate a key provision in the Netanyahu government’s controversial judicial reform law, which constitutes a challenge to the powers of the country’s senior judges and sparked popular protests.

The amended clause that the court invalidated stipulates that the judiciary is deprived of the right to rule on the reasonableness of the decisions of the government or the Knesset.

The Israeli Ministry of Justice said in a statement that eight of the 15 Supreme Court justices voted to invalidate the provision.

In his reaction to the move, Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Lavin accused the Supreme Court of seizing all powers.

Levin, who is behind the legal reform, said on his account on Telegram that by issuing the ruling, “the judges are seizing all the powers that are divided in the democratic system in a balanced way between the three authorities”.

He continued, “It deprives millions of citizens of their voices and their basic right to be equal partners in decision-making”.

The Likud Party also criticized the move, saying in a statement, “It’s unfortunate that the Supreme Court chose to issue its ruling at the heart of the social controversy in Israel precisely at a time when IDF soldiers are fighting from both the right and the left and risking their lives in the military campaign”.

“The court’s decision contradicts the people’s will for unity, especially in times of war,” the Likud statement said.

On the other hand, the Power Integrity movement, which filed an appeal against the law, responded, “This is a historic decision… The government and ministers who wanted to dispense with the judiciary learned that there are judges in Jerusalem, and there is democracy with separation of powers”.

Since the announcement in early January of the controversial judicial reform plan that the most right-wing government in the history of Israel wants to implement, various parts of the country have witnessed massive weekly demonstrations to denounce what opponents of this reform consider an anti-democratic deviation.

The reform project proposed by the Netanyahu government, which is one of the most right-wing governments in Israel, aims to increase the power of members of parliament over the judiciary.

The coalition government, which includes right-wing and far-right parties and ultra-Orthodox Jewish formations, confirms that the reforms aim to correct the imbalance between the judiciary and the elected parliament.

There is no constitution in Israel or a upper house of parliament, but it’s governed by basic laws that are equivalent to the constitution.

The reasonableness argument clause was put in place to allow judges to determine whether the government has exceeded its powers.

The Supreme Court is considered the highest judicial authority, and its decisions, which are above the laws issued by the Knesset, cannot be objected to.

The Israeli Supreme Court used this procedure in its ruling against Aryeh Deri, an ally of Netanyahu, preventing him from assuming the Ministry of Finance portfolio and participating in the government due to his conviction for tax evasion.

Opponents accuse Netanyahu, who is being tried on corruption charges in which he denies involvement, of seeking through the amendments to avoid judicial convictions against him.