Israel’s Supreme Court struck down a piece of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahu’s controversial judicial reform, following widespread protests last year.
Topline
Israel’s Supreme Court on Monday narrowly struck down a law in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sweeping—and wildly controversial—judicial reforms that sought to limit the court’s check on Israel’s ruling government, a major blow to Netanyahu, whose critics, both within Israel and outside it, have grown as he has led Israel’s war in Gaza following Hamas’s shock attack on Oct. 7.Key Facts
Netanyahu’s judicial reforms that had been passed by Israel’s Parliament last summer, a law that had sparked protests across the country.
That law bars judges from using the legal standard of “reasonableness” to overrule government decisions, a legal standard used in other judicial systems, including in Canada and the U.K., and that had been used for decades in Israel.
In its ruling, the court argued the law would impose a “severe and unprecedented blow to the core characteristics” of Israel “as a democratic state,” CNN reported.
Netanyahu has argued the reforms are necessary to curb judicial overreach, though he has faced heavy criticism over the reforms, largely over concerns they would drastically expand his right-wing government’s power and allow him to skirt bribery and fraud charges (Netanyahu has denied those charges).
Many also argued the political turmoil over the reforms also distracted Israeli officials ahead of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, an unprecedented military assault that penetrated Israel’s vaunted defense system and killed an estimated 1,200 people in Israel, prompting Netanyahu to declare war on Hamas.
Ian Bremmer, the president and founder of the consulting firm the Eurasia Group told CNBC in October he believes the turmoil “clearly distracted Israeli intelligence” and the IDF, while The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum speculated Netanyahu’s response to protests could “may even have been one of the reasons Hamas dared to launch its attack.
