Israel’s supreme court has overturned a law at the heart of Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial judicial overhaul project, potentially plunging the country into political crisis as it fights a war in Gaza and faces the spectre of regional escalation.

The judges ruled on Monday by a slim majority of eight to seven to throw out a law that curtailed the court’s own powers, saying it would severely damage Israel’s democracy.

 

In July, after seven months of debate, the government passed a law scrapping the “reasonableness” clause that allows Israel’s unelected supreme court to overrule government decisions.

The ruling to throw out that legislation, made in a historic first full sitting of the 15-member court, could reignite tensions that roiled Israel over the summer and split the unity government in the wake of Hamas’s 7 October attacks.

The judicial overhaul project led to months of mass protests that brought Netanyahu’s government under domestic and international pressure. It widened already deep religious, ethnic and class divides in Israel, threw the military into chaos and damaged both its currency – the shekel – and relations with allies. The US president, Joe Biden, at the time was critical of the plans.

Attorney Gil Gan-Mor, who represented 38 human rights organisations in a joint petition challenging the law, welcomed the ruling, saying it had thrown out “an attempt to infringe upon the human rights of every Israeli citizen and thwart judicial oversight of government decisions”.

Activists had argued that “in the absence of a robust constitution safeguarding human rights”, the supreme court’s ability to throw out legislation was “indispensable for the preservation of democratic governance and human rights”.

 

FULL STORY

 

The irony is delicious. The very body threatened by netanyahu's plan has thrown the plan out.

Wonderful news.

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The irony is delicious. The very body threatened by netanyahu's plan has thrown the plan out.

Wonderful news.

 

@thaibeachlovers

 

It's wonderful news for Israel, less so for you.

 

Because, you see, having a strong supreme court is one of Israel's main defenses against international legal action.

So long as relevant international bodies can chart a legal way for citizens, or any people under de-facto rule to appeal government decisions, and so long as the SC is, indeed, 'supreme' - then most legal action is deemed irrelevant. Even if there is an investigation, the chances of it coming to actual legal action is much less likely with a strong supreme court and legal system in place.

 

In this regard, the SC decision is a mixed bag for Netanyahu - not that great on his domestic front political survival plays, but possible a chestnuts out of the fire case with regard to international legal action in connection with the Palestinians.