Israel’s Supreme Court on Monday invalidated a key element of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s controversial judicial reform. As the court announced, eight out of 15 judges voted against a change to the law on the so-called adequacy clause passed by Parliament in July. The amendment to the clause was intended to deprive the Supreme Court of the ability to classify government decisions as “unreasonable” and overturn them.
The right-wing religious government’s plans to restructure the judiciary have deeply divided the country. The plaintiffs against the law restricting the so-called adequacy clause had argued that it weakens the judiciary as a pillar of Israeli democracy. They fear that disempowering the judiciary could pave the way for an authoritarian state.
Parliament passed the law restricting judicial powers with a narrow majority in July despite ongoing protests. Netanyahu’s government, a coalition of his Likud party and right-wing extremist and ultra-Orthodox parties, considers the legal changes necessary to readjust the balance of power in the separation of powers.
Netanyahu’s right-wing conservative Likud party immediately criticized the verdict. “It is regrettable that the Supreme Court has chosen to make a judgment at the heart of social conflict in Israel at a time when Israeli soldiers from the right and the left are fighting and endangering their lives in war,” it said it in a statement from the party. “The court decision contradicts the people’s desire for unity, especially in times of war.”
Israeli opposition leader Jair Lapid, however, has expressed his support. “The Supreme Court’s decision comes at the end of a tough year of strife that has torn us apart from within and led to the worst catastrophe in our history,” Lapid wrote on the X platform, formerly Twitter. The court faithfully fulfilled its mandate to protect the citizens of Israel. “We give the Supreme Court full support.”
Lapid from the Centrist Future Party warned: “If the Israeli government starts the dispute over the Supreme Court again, it means that they have learned nothing. That they have learned nothing from October 7th and from 87 days of fighting for our home. “
