the Supreme Court invalidates a key provision of Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reform

It was an extremely anticipated decision. The Israeli Supreme Court announced on Monday January 1 that it had invalidated a key provision of the highly controversial judicial reform promoted by the Israeli government. Benjamin Netanyahu. The invalidated measure provided for removing from the judiciary the right to rule on “reasonableness” decisions of the government or the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament.

The Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, immediately reacted and accused the Supreme Court of “assume all powers”. “In fact, the judges [de la Cour suprême] take into their hands, with this decision, all the powers which, in a democratic regime, are distributed in a balanced manner between the three powers”, executive, legislative and judicial, the minister wrote on Telegram. He also criticized the publication of this judgment “in the middle of war, which goes against the unity necessary in these days for the success of our fighters on the front.”

On July 24, the Knesset approved this flagship measure which prevents judges from overturning government decisions that it judges “unreasonable”. And this despite eight months of protests by Israelis in the streets. To understand the impact of such a measure, it is enough to look at a specific example: in January 2023, the Supreme Court invalidated the appointment of Arié Dery, convicted of tax fraud, as Minister of the Interior and Health. She considered it unreasonable for him to sit in the government. Benjamin Netanyahu, angry with the judges, was forced to dismiss him from office.