Israel’s Supreme Court delivers setback to campaign to remove checks on Netanyahu
Israel’s Supreme Court on Wednesday postponed the entry into force of a new law making it more difficult to remove a prime minister from office – the court’s second ruling in three days that will undermine efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to gain more power hindered.
The new measure means that a sitting prime minister can only be declared unfit for office and deposed by a vote of three-quarters of ministers and two-thirds of parliament. Previously, a prime minister could be declared unfit for office by the attorney general and the courts.
But the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-5 decision on Wednesday that the law would not come into effect until the next parliament is elected – meaning for now the old standard still applies. The court ruled that the bill was intended to benefit Mr Netanyahu, who is on trial on a litany of corruption charges.
On Monday, the Supreme Court struck down a law limiting its own power to block government actions as unreasonable, a decision that has divided the nation.
Critics say both laws, part of a package by the right-wing government and approved by parliament last year, were designed to remove checks and balances on government power and protect Mr. Netanyahu from oversight and dismissal.
“It is very clear that six of the judges think this is an abuse of constitutional power because of the personal nature of the amendment,” Amir Fuchs, a constitutional law expert at the Israel Democracy Institute, a nonpartisan research group, said. the pronounciation. on Wednesday. “It is their use of strong legislation for the benefit of one person.”
The law was challenged shortly after it was ratified by groups including the Movement for Quality Government, a leading Israeli rights watchdog. On Wednesday, the group called the law “broadly tailored to the personal needs of a prime minister accused of crimes.”
“The court’s decision is an important victory for the Israeli public,” the Movement for Quality Government said in a statement. The ruling contains an important message, the group added, that the rules of Israeli democracy “are not a piece of putty in the hands of the prime minister.”
Netanyahu’s supporters have criticized both the statements and the timing of the decisions during the ongoing war in Gaza.
“This ruling, like the ruling that preceded it, has no validity because it contradicts basic laws established in a democratic process by an elected parliament.” Shlomo Karhithe Israeli Communications Minister and member of Netanyahu’s Likud party posted on social media.