Israeli court ruling likely to end plan to shift power from judiciary to executive branch

The decision by Israel’s supreme court to strike down a judicial reform that triggered nationwide protests last year against Binyamin Netanyahu’s government likely marks the end of a plan that aimed to shift power from the judiciary to the executive branch.

“The reform died on October 7th [the start of the Gaza war] and won’t come back to life, regardless of the court’s blatant, unprecedented intervention against a basic law,” said one senior member of the government coalition.

Last July the government, made up entirely of right-wing and religious parties, passed into law the “reasonableness” bill, which removed the power of the supreme court to overturn government decisions deemed to be “extremely unreasonable”.

The measure, the flagship of the government’s radical judicial overhaul package, triggered the biggest protests in Israel’s history, bringing hundreds of thousands of demonstrators on to the streets in weekly protests, warning that Israeli democracy was in danger. It also prompted thousands of military reservists, including large numbers of pilots and intelligence officers, to threaten to stop volunteering for service.

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Opponents of the government, along with senior army officers, warned that the judicial overhaul was undermining the country’s security and could encourage Israel’s enemies, sensing weakness and disunity, to attack. Many analysts believe the chaos in Israel was a contributing factor in the Hamas decision to launch its surprise attack in October, though government supporters blame the reservists’ threats not to serve and not the judicial overhaul itself.

The court ruled on Monday night in an 8-7 majority vote to strike down the reasonableness amendment in its entirety even though the government had classified the bill a basic law, the closest Israel has to a constitution. Twelve of the 15 judges ruled that the court had the power to strike down basic laws enacted by the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.

Justice minister Yariv Levin, of Netanyahu’s Likud party, which was the architect of the judicial reform, said the court ruling undermined Israeli unity at a time of war and made it impossible for the Knesset and the government to make decisions without the judges’ approval. “That takes away the basic right to be partners in the decision-making process from millions of citizens. The ruling, which has no parallel in any Western democracy, will not deter us. But, while there is a war under way on multiple fronts we will maintain restraint and responsibility.”

Support for the government has plummeted in opinion polls since the start of the Gaza war and even one third of Likud voters no longer back the judicial overhaul, which is seen as divisive.

At the weekend South Africa filed a complaint against Israel to the International Court of Justice at The Hague, alleging genocide in Gaza. Traditionally Israel’s best defence against such allegations has been its independent and robust judiciary, based on the ”complementarity principle”, which stipulates that the international court does not prosecute suspects whose country has an independent judicial system.

Monday’s court ruling could be the decisive factor saving Israeli leaders and soldiers from prosecution.

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