The Israeli Supreme Court has handed a decisive victory to opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul in a key ruling on the day a month-long war with the Gaza-ruling Hamas began.
The court ruled late on Monday that a new system of nominating Supreme Court justices – meant to boost the prime minister’s influence over the top court – was unconstitutional. It upheld a petition filed by a group of democratic activists and academics who argued it violated Israel’s Basic Laws, which serve as a sort of semi-constitution.
The ruling was quickly welcomed by those who had viewed the reform as a way for Netanyahu to consolidate his grip on power. Netanyahu’s opponents also cheered the ruling, which came as hundreds of rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel on the first day of military hostilities between Israel and Hamas.
“The Israeli Supreme Court has delivered a historic decision in a crucial hour for democracy in Israel,” opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on Twitter.
The court ruling was praised by human rights activists around the world as well, with legal advocates from Amnesty International describing it as a “victory for the rule of law in Israel.”
The justices who ruled unanimously in the case said the new process of nominating Supreme Court justices would have harmed the court’s independence and eroded public trust in the judicial system.
“It is not for nothing that the legislature determined that the nomination and selection of justices will be made in a public and transparent manner,” the court wrote.
The blow to Netanyahu’s plans came as both Israel and Gaza were dragged deeper into a bitter conflict. On Monday evening, Israeli jets began an intense bombing campaign in Gaza in retaliation for the barrage of rockets launched from the coastal enclave earlier in the day.
The fighting was likely to further complicate the increasingly tumultuous political landscape in Israel, already bogged down by months of deadlocked elections and deeply divided opinions on Netanyahu’s failed judicial overhaul.
Israel’s citizens will now have to look to the outcome of the conflict with Hamas, as well as the results of the upcoming repeat elections scheduled for next month, to understand what Netanyahu’s plans for judicial reform will look like. For now, the Israeli Supreme Court has spoken loud and clear – ruling that the plans presented by the prime minister are not compatible with a functioning democracy.
