Major setback for Netanyahu as SC strikes down his judicial law

Israel's Supreme Court overturned a contentious government plan to curtail the powers of the judiciary on Monday, The Times of Israel reported.

This landmark decision raises the possibility of escalating tensions in the nation while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fights Hamas in Gaza.

By a decision of eight votes to seven, the court decided that the government's modification to the so-called reasonableness law should be rejected.

The bill, which was the first significant component of a multipronged effort to undermine the judiciary, was approved by the Knesset, Israel's parliament, last year. It had deprived the Supreme Court of its authority to declare government judgements irrational.

The decision may reignite a contentious and heated discussion that raged in Israel during 2023 but was put on hold after the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

Additionally, it might lead to divisions within Netanyahu's war cabinet, which is composed of two well-known opponents of his plans to restructure the courts.

All sides will be closely monitoring Netanyahu's future movements, and if he attempts to force through the contentious amendment, there could be a constitutional crisis.

The amendment would deliver a 'severe and unprecedented blow to the core characteristics of the State of Israel as a democratic state', the court declared in its decision, rejecting it, according to The Times of Israel.

After being passed in July, the law eliminated the court's ability to overrule decisions made by the government on the grounds that they were 'unreasonable'.

Opinion polls showed that a large majority of Israelis were against the reform, which opponents claimed would undermine the judiciary's independence and undermine Israel's democracy, The Times of Israel reported.

Large-scale demonstrations, which have been a common occurrence in Israeli towns ever since Netanyahu first revealed his plans for the judiciary, were sparked by its passing, and hundreds of army reservists threatened to skip work.

The two other members of Netanyahu's war cabinet were among those who opposed the ideas.

In March, Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, became the first person in Netanyahu's pre-war cabinet to openly disagree with his intentions, which resulted in his temporary dismissal.