Israel’s Supreme Court is hearing the first case challenging the legality of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul, deepening a showdown with the far-right government that has divided the nation.
In a sign of the case’s significance, all 15 Supreme Court justices are hearing appeals to the law together for the first time in Israel’s history.
A regular panel is made up of three justices, though they sometimes sit on expanded panels. The proceedings are also being livestreamed.
“It’s a historic day,” said Susie Navot, vice president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank that has been critical of the overhaul. “This is the first time we’ve had this kind of hearing.”
Mr Netanyahu’s coalition, a collection of ultranationalist and ultrareligious lawmakers, launched the overhaul early this year, shortly after taking office.
Proponents of the plan say the country’s unelected judiciary, led by the Supreme Court, wields too much power. Critics say the plan to weaken the Supreme Court removes a key safeguard and will concentrate power in the hands of Mr Netanyahu and his far-right allies.
The hearing on Tuesday puts the country’s senior justices in the unprecedented position of deciding whether to accept limits to their own powers.
It focuses on the first law passed by parliament in July — a measure that cancels the court’s ability to strike down government decisions it deems to be “unreasonable”.
Judges have used the legal standard in the past to prevent government decisions viewed as unsound or corrupt.
The judicial overhaul — which opponents characterise as a profound threat to Israeli democracy — has infuriated Israelis across many segments of society, bringing hundreds of thousands into the streets to march at one protest after another for the past 36 weeks.
The protesters have come largely from the country’s secular middle class. Leading high-tech business figures have threatened to relocate. Perhaps most dramatic, thousands of military reservists have broken with the government and declared their refusal to report for duty over the plan.
Mr Netanyahu’s supporters tend to be poorer, more religious and live in West Bank settlements or outlying rural areas.
Many of his supporters are working-class Mizrahi Jews, with roots in Middle Eastern countries, and have expressed hostility toward what they say is an elitist class of Ashkenazi, or European, Jews.
Late on Monday, tens of thousands of Israeli protesters crowded around the Supreme Court, waving national flags and chanting against the government.
The law passed as an amendment to what in Israel is known as a “Basic Law”, a special piece of legislation that serves as a sort of constitution, which Israel does not have.
The court has never struck down a “Basic Law” before but says it has the right to do so. The government says it does not.
In a statement ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Israeli justice minister Yariv Levin said the court “lacks all authority” to review the law.
“It is a fatal blow to democracy and the status of the Knesset,” he said, insisting that lawmakers elected by the public should have the final say over the legislation.
The petitioners asking the court to strike down the law include a handful of civil society groups advocating for human rights and good governance. A ruling is not expected on Tuesday but the hearing could hint at the court’s direction.
