Israel’s judiciary in firing line after minister unveils plans to shift power to parliament

Israel’s justice minister has unveiled plans to weaken the judiciary, shifting power to parliament in a move opposition critics warn will undermine Israeli democracy.

The right wing in Israel, led by prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, has long considered the judiciary a self-perpetuating bastion of a leftist, secular elite and the plan to shift the balance of power was a major issue in the recent election, which saw the return to power of Mr Netanyahu as the head of a right-wing and religious coalition.

Presenting his radical reform plan, justice minister Yariv Levin, from Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party, argued that his reforms would “strengthen democracy” and restore the balance between the three branches of government.

“Confidence in the justice system has fallen to a dangerous nadir. We went to the polls and time and time again people who we never elected made choices for us. That is not democracy,” he said.

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The changes include an override clause which will grant the Knesset — the Israeli parliament — the power to overrule any high court decision by a simple majority of 61 out of its 120 members. The system under which judges are chosen will be changed to give the Knesset more influence at the expense of judges and lawyers.

Mr Levin also wants to change the system that sees professional appointees who report to the attorney general act as legal advisers to government ministries; he proposes to replace them with political appointees controlled by ministers. And he wants to cancel the “reasonableness” standard that has been used by the courts to reverse government decisions that justices deemed beyond reason.

Benny Gantz , leader of the centrist National Unity party, condemned the reform plan.

“Israel will become a hollow democracy if Levin’s plan is implemented,” he said. “Everyone understands that the next stage of the plan will focus on either suspending or cancelling Netanyahu’s trial.”

‘Corruption override clause’

Mr Netanyahu is being tried on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust — all of which he denies.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid accused the government of threatening to demolish Israel’s entire legal system. He said the day he returns to power his government will nullify what he described as a reckless reform and the “corruption override clause”.

“Judges will not be chosen by corrupt politicians looking for the criminal charges against them to be dropped. Like a group of mafiosos, the government placed a loaded gun on the table just one day before the Deri hearing,” he said.

He was referring to Thursday’s supreme court hearing of petitions against the appointment of Arieh Deri, the head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, as interior and health minister even though he has been convicted three times of criminal offences and is serving a suspended sentence for tax fraud.

An expanded panel of 11 justices met for six hours and are expected to hand down their verdict in the coming days. If the petitions are upheld, an unprecedented showdown is expected between the government and the court.