Hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would pursue "active steps" to implement the controversial judicial overhaul, a senior government official told Israel Hayom Sunday that the final passage of a key component of the legislation could be weeks away.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
"We will pass the bill on the limiting the reasonability clause through a second and third [final] reading by the end of the current session," referring to the Knesset current legislative session, the Summer Session, which is expected to run through July.
That part of the reform seeks to limit the ability of the Supreme Court to strike down Knesset measures based on them being unreasonable rather than by citing a specific contradiction to laws and statutes. The bill, if passed, would deny the court from striking down government resolutions and decisions by certain ministerial forums, thus allowing the government free reign on policy, appointments, and cabinet positions, including on the appointment of controversial figures such as Aryeh Deri, whom the court prevented from sitting the cabinet because of his past conduct despite not being in direct violation of the law.
Another part of the bill will safeguard government appointments to various public sector positions in the civil service, but will still give the court the authority to strike down various municipal appointments on reasonability grounds.
Following Netanyahu's decision to move ahead with the reform, State Party leader Benny Gantz lambasted him, saying that "Netanyahu surely knows what the meaning of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If Netanyahu goes ahead with unilateral action to steamroll democracy and Israeli society, as well as its security and economy, he will fail again. He will not have a majority of the people, and will lack a majority in the Knesset."
The judicial drive, announced in January only a week into Netanyahu's return to office, set off one of Israel's worst political crises in years, with critics at home and abroad dubbing it a threat to the very nature of Israel's democracy.
Advocates of the proposed overhaul say the Supreme Court is elitist, left-leaning, and overreaching, and elected officials should have more power in picking the bench. Critics say that would politicize the courts and threaten judicial independence.
Western allies, including Washington, have urged Netanyahu to pursue broad consensus over reforms to the justice system. Until now, talks with the Opposition have yielded little, compounding uncertainty over the overhaul plan's future that has hit the economy and the shekel. The stakes are rising with two Supreme Court judges retiring in the coming months.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
