On Monday afternoon, the Knesset voted to pass the highly contested ‘reasonability bill’ by 64-0 with the opposition walking out ahead of the vote following a collapse in talks chaired by President Isaac Herzog’s office, amidst widespread protests across the country.
The amendment annulled the use of ‘reasonability’ for the judicial review of government decisions, meaning that the Supreme Court will no longer be able to challenge government decisions using such grounds.
The reasonability bill has greatly divided the country with protests taking place for the last 28 weeks. Ahead of the vote last weekend, tens of thousands of Israelis marched from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Counter-demonstrations also took place in Tel Aviv in favour of the bill.
Since the 1990s “judicial revolution”, Israel’s highest court has been regarded as interventionist in its “activist” overreach by critics. Supporters of the reforms contend that this has resulted in a democratic deficit; whereby the unelected judiciary can overrule the decisions of democratically elected politicians.
Supporters of the reforms claim that the judiciary and government legal advisors are said to function as a self-elected and self-perpetuating “club”, with membership restricted to left-wing/liberal “elite”, which dissuades conservative policy from being proposed. They contend that wider participation is urgently needed to reflect the diversity of Israelis and Israeli opinion.
Opponents of the reforms point to Israel’s unicameral system, with no second chamber nor written constitution. Paired with its Party List system which concentrates power in party leaders, critics believe that the Supreme Court acts as a crucial check-and-balance on the power of the executive and an independent guarantor of liberal democratic norms and minority rights – preventing ‘tyranny of the majority’.
The opposition claims that the Supreme Court has only overruled 20 laws out of around 1,300 and does not rule consistently in favour of the liberal/left, such as in 2005 when it judged that compensation for evacuated settlers should be increased. The high international regard for Israel’s independent judiciary functions as protection from the authority of international courts. Such protections will wane with the weakening of the judiciary, according to opponents of the new bills.
Protests continued throughout the night following the vote, blocking major highways across Israel. Israeli Police deployed police horses and water cannons – a rarely used means of protest dispersal within Israel. Eighteen were arrested. Public-sector strikes were called throughout the week, including a doctors strike on Tuesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it is “a necessary democratic step, one designed to restore a measure of balance between the authorities… We passed the amendment to the reasonableness standard so that the elected government will be able to lead policy according to the will of the majority of the citizens of the state”.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin, labelled the bill as the “first step” in “correcting the judicial system”.
The opposition has vowed to remove the law from the statute books.
Opposing the bill, leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid said: “We saw today Netanyahu’s unprecedented performance of weakness”. “There is no prime minister in Israel. Netanyahu has become a puppet of messianic extremists”, he added.
Serving as the Deputy Prime Minister in the previous Knesset, now head of the National Unity Party, Benny Gantz said, “Anyone who thinks he won today will soon discover that this was a terrible mistake for all of us. I am a man who has known battle; I say to you today: We may have lost the battle, but we will all win the war. We will do whatever it takes to reverse course and to fix things”.
The vote followed threats from coalition members to resign and bring down the Government if the Prime Minister were to moderate the legislation further, having already dropped the ‘override clause’ amendment late last month.
On Tuesday, the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office released a statement celebrating the shared democratic values between the UK and Israel whilst “urg[ing] the Israeli government to build consensus and avoid division, ensuring that a robust system of checks and balances and the independence of Israel’s judiciary are preserved”.
The IDF have also been drawn into the debate, with high ranking IDF personnel highlighting security ramifications, contending that: a divided country will signal a loss of deterrence and embolden Israel’s enemies, the division among the forces would have operational repercussions and the loss of judicial independence could make it easier in the future to put IDF figures on trial in the Hague.
Over ten thousand reservists have written letters conveying their intention to abstain from service should the reforms pass.
Last weekend, close to 100 senior retired security officials wrote to the Prime Minister, including three former IDF chiefs of staff (Ehud Barak, Moshe Yaalon and Dan Halutz). In the letter they “announced, with a broken heart, that they are suspending their voluntary service”.
Head of Mossad David Barnea has said: “We serve a democratic state and are not currently in a constitutional crisis. If we find ourselves in one, we will act according to legal counsel.”
Members of the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxy group Hezbollah have openly commented on the internal debate within Israel.
Nasser Kanaani, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson tweeted: “The heart of the Zionist regime is in deeper crisis than the crisis in the heart of its Prime Minister”, referring to the pace-maker fitted on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s heart hours before the vote.
Hezbollah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said Israel was on a “path of collapse and fragmentation”.
The shekel has also fallen against other foreign currencies and the Tel Aviv stock exchange has been negatively affected. Morgan Stanley on Tuesday lowered Israel’s credit rating to “dislike stance”, whilst Moody’s has downgraded Israel’s credit outlook from positive to stable, citing “deterioration of governance”.
Issuing a statement in response, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Finance Minister Smotrich said that “this is a momentary response; when the dust clears, it will be clear that the Israeli economy is very strong.” “The security industries are bursting with orders. The gas industry is increasing exports to Europe and seven companies are now competing for tenders to explore for gas in Israel at an investment worth billions. Intel is planning its largest investment outside of the U.S. ever and will invest $25 billion in Israel. NVIDIA is building a supercomputer in Israel and we are moving forward in AI, cyber and the manufacture of chips in Israel. Growth is increasing and inflation has been blocked. Regulation is being lifted and free market competition is increasing”, they continued. They asserted that the Israeli economy is “based on strong fundamentals and will continue to grow under experienced leadership that is enacting a responsible economic policy”.
The Knesset vote will be challenged in the Supreme Court after recess in September/October. The process is likely to take a few months.
Following the formation of the new governing coalition in January 2023, Justice Minister Levin set out far-reaching reforms to curb the Supreme Court. The Knesset aimed to pass the reforms in March, but the legislative process froze following nationwide protests and the start of negotiations.
