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Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition partners have reacted with disappointment after the Israeli prime minister said he would abandon a central element of his government’s judicial overhaul.
Netanyahu said last week that he would return to the overhaul that was put on ice in March after weeks of mass protests escalated into a general strike that briefly brought parts of Israel’s economy to a halt.
However, the prime minister said on Thursday that the coalition would not return to a plan to let parliament “override” decisions by Israel’s top court to strike down legislation, which critics had warned would erode one of the crucial checks on Israeli governments’ powers.
“It’s out,” Netanyahu said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, adding that a second controversial element of the shake-up — that would give the coalition greater power over the appointment of judges — would be amended, although he did not say how.
Since parking the overhaul in March to allow what became three months of — ultimately fruitless — compromise negotiations between government and opposition MPs, Netanyahu had made clear his reservations about an override clause.
But his public burying of the idea drew criticism from members of the far-right and ultrareligious groups that make up his hardline coalition and that have long sought to weaken the powers of Israel’s top court.
Zvi Sukkot, a member of the ultranationalist Religious Zionist party, said he was “very disappointed” by Netanyahu’s announcement. “This wasn’t what we’d been hoping for,” he told Kan Radio. “I hope we do everything we can from within the coalition to make sure the things we promised do happen.”
His concerns were echoed by Meir Porush, a member of the ultraorthodox United Torah Judaism party who serves as the Jerusalem affairs and heritage minister. “Two weeks ago, in a meeting with the prime minister . . . I strongly opposed this unacceptable idea,” he said.
Netanyahu’s far-right and religious allies have long argued that steps such as introducing an override clause are needed to rein in Israel’s top court, which they accuse of using powers it was never formally given to advance a partisan, leftwing agenda.
The government last week restarted work on elements of the overhaul, advancing a plan to limit the top court’s ability to use the standard of “reasonableness” as a criteria for blocking government actions.
However, critics regard the government’s plans as a power grab that would erode important checks and balances, pave the way for the evisceration of minority rights, foster corruption and damage the economy.
Gideon Sa’ar, a member of the New Hope party and a former justice minister, said the opposition would continue to campaign against the other elements of the overhaul, despite Netanyahu’s announcement.
“This is part of a series of measures that all go in the same direction. They come to restrict judicial review,” he told Army Radio. “At the end of the day the question is the cumulative impact in influencing the court’s power.”
Matan Kahana, a member of the opposition National Unity party, took a similar stance. “Netanyahu in English speaks in one language and in Hebrew in another language,” he said. “There’s no knowing what he meant.”
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