Justices spar with lawyers defending reasonableness law as 13-hour hearing ends

The scene of a shooting attack in the West Bank town of Huwara on September 12, 2023. (Magen David Adom)

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says two Israeli men wounded in a shooting attack in the West Bank town of Huwara are in good condition.

The pair came under fire while driving through the town, and are lightly wounded by glass shards after bullets shattered the windows of their car.

They are being taken to the Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, MDA says.

8:40 pm

Netanyahu to meet Zelensky on sidelines of UN General Assembly

Left: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the US Congress in Washington, DC on December 21, 2022; Right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presents the new government to parliament at the Knesset in Jerusalem on December 29, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/AFP; Amir Cohen/Pool/AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk says.

The planned meeting comes after the two leaders spoke last week by phone amid tensions between the countries, Korniychuk tells the Ynet news site.

Ukraine is angry over Israel’s limited, non-military support and ongoing close ties with Russia.

The countries are also at odds over the treatment of Ukrainian refugees and Jewish pilgrims heading to Ukraine.

8:32 pm

Two wounded in apparent shooting attack in West Bank town of Huwara

Illustrative: Israeli security forces secure the scene of a shooting attack in Huwara, in the West Bank, August 19, 2023. (Flash90)

Medics and security forces are responding to reports of a shooting attack in the northern West Bank town of Huwara.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says its medics are treating two men in their 30s who are wounded by glass shards as a result of the shooting.

Both men are conscious, MDA says.

The Israel Defense Forces says troops are responding to the attack, without providing further details.

8:00 pm

Likud: Court will ‘undermine democracy’ if it overturns a Basic Law

Israelis rally in support of plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system and against the Supreme Court as it hears appeals to the first part of the overhaul legislation, in Jerusalem Tuesday, September 12, 2023. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party breaks its silence on today’s dramatic High Court of Justice hearing, releasing a statement asserting that the court would “undermine democracy” if it invalidated the Basic Law it is considering.

“The most important element in democracy is that the people are sovereign. The Knesset receives its authority from the people. The government receives its authority from the Knesset. The court receives its authority from the Basic Laws enacted by the Knesset,” the statement reads.

“If the court can cancel Basic Laws, it makes itself sovereign instead of the people. This extreme step will undermine the foundation of democracy. This is a red line that must not be crossed,” it continues.

7:40 pm

US sanctions Lebanon-South America network accused of financing Hezbollah

By AP

Hezbollah fighters hold the terror group's flags as they parade during a rally to mark Jerusalem Day in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, April 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

The US Treasury slaps terrorism sanctions on a family network of seven individuals and businesses in Lebanon and South America accused of financing the Hezbollah terror group, including a Lebanese man who officials say was involved in two deadly attacks in Argentina in the 1990s.

Amer Mohamed Akil Rada was described as “one of the operational members” who carried out the attack on the Argentine-Israelite Mutual Association in Buenos Aires in 1994, which killed 85 people and wounded hundreds. A 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina killed 29 people.

“Today’s action underscores the US government’s commitment to pursuing Hezbollah operatives and financiers no matter their location,” says Brian Nelson, the Treasury’s under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a statement.

The Iran-backed group is designated a “foreign terrorist organization,” and Washington also claims that the group has been involved in drug trafficking in Latin America to generate revenue.

Rada, according to the Treasury, spent over a decade in South America before relocating to Lebanon. During his time there, he allegedly ran a charcoal business that frequently exported from Colombia to Lebanon and used “80 percent of the proceeds of his commercial enterprise to benefit Hezbollah.”

7:27 pm

US said to hold undisclosed talks with Gantz, Bennett over Saudi normalization

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (R), Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (C) and Defense Minister Benny Gantz (L) during a Knesset discussion on a bill to renew the application of some Israeli law to settlers, June 6, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf held undisclosed meetings with former prime minister Naftali Bennett and opposition party leader Benny Gantz in recent days, Channel 12 reports.

According to the reports the talks focused on the normalization deal the US is trying to mediate with Saudi Arabia, among other regional issues.

Sources familiar with the talks tell Channel 12 that the US was trying to gauge Israel’s redlines, beyond what has been conveyed by the Netanyahu government.

US officials have in recent weeks also met with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.

Lapid told the Americans he was vehemently opposed to allowing Saudi Arabia to carry out any nuclear enrichment on its soil.

The report said Gantz and Bennett were believed to have also highlighted the dangers of a regional nuclear race if the Saudis had their own program.

7:06 pm

El Al flight to London returning to make emergency landing due to technical fault

El Al Airlines' Boeing 737s are pictured on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, March 10, 2020. (Jack Guez/AFP)

El Al flight ELY313 to London is returning to Ben Gurion Airport to make an emergency landing after encountering a technical fault.

The aircraft had been in the air for some 75 minutes when the problem was discovered.

It is expected to land at 8 p.m. local time.

Details of the problem were not immediately clear.

מטוס 737 של אל על בטיסה ly313 ללונדון (LTN) עושה את דרכו חזרה לנתב"ג לאחר תקלה pic.twitter.com/hH8mwuCSI6

— Asslan Khalil (@KhalilAsslan) September 12, 2023

6:58 pm

White House calls Biden impeachment probe ‘extreme politics’

By AFP

US President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, September 12, 2023, after returning from a trip to India and Vietnam. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The White House condemns a decision to open an impeachment investigation into US President Joe Biden over his son Hunter’s business dealings as “extreme politics at its worst.”

“House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing,” Ian Sams, White House spokesman for oversight and investigations, says on X, formerly known as Twitter.

6:35 pm

McCarthy to direct House to open impeachment inquiry into Biden over family dealings

By AP

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., arrives at the Capitol in Washington, early Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker Kevin McCarthy says he is directing a House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into US President Joe Biden over his family’s business dealings.

McCarthy says the House investigation has found a “culture of corruption” around the Biden family. The announcement from the Republican leader comes as he faces mounting pressure from his right flank to take action against Biden.

McCarthy is planning to convene lawmakers behind closed doors multiple times this week, including for a meeting to discuss the Biden impeachment. The speaker also is struggling to pass legislation needed to avoid a federal government shutdown at the end of the month.

The Republican leader is once again at a political crossroads — trying to keep his most conservative lawmakers satisfied and prevent his own ouster. It’s a familiar political bind for McCarthy, who is juggling the impeachment inquiry and the government shutdown threat with no clear end game.

Biden’s White House has dismissed the impeachment push as politically motivated.

“Speaker McCarthy shouldn’t cave to the extreme, far-right members who are threatening to shut down the government unless they get a baseless, evidence-free impeachment of President Biden. The consequences for the American people are too serious,” White House spokesman Ian Sams has said.

The impeachment push comes as Trump, who was twice impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate, faces more serious charges in court. Trump has been indicted four times this year, including for trying to overturn the 2020 election Biden won.

6:13 pm

Miami Jewish school evacuated amid bomb threat

The Scheck Hillel Community School is evacuated due to reports of an “explosive alert,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials tell local 10 News.

Officials say it’s possible that it was a swatting incident, but they have not yet ruled out other possibilities.

Parents tell 10 News that students are moved to the school field after hearing a bang.

BREAKING NEWS: Scheck Hillel Community School was evacuated Tuesday morning due to reports of an “explosive alert,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials said. https://t.co/UcGE3YT8PL

— WPLG Local 10 News (@WPLGLocal10) September 12, 2023

The Ynet news site reports that some children of Israeli consulate workers attend the Jewish school.

6:03 pm

Lapid to meet Arab leaders amid spiraling violence

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid plans to meet with Arab mayors and municipality heads tomorrow morning in Umm Al Fahm, according to Lapid’s office.

The meeting was set to discuss a sustained surge in violent crime in Arab communities.

5:54 pm

Iran identifies 5 prisoners it wants from US in swap

By AP

Darian Dalili speaks with a woman as he holds up a sign during a hunger strike outside the White House in Washington, DC on August 14, 2023. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

Iran identifies the five prisoners it hopes to see freed in the United States in exchange for five Iranian-Americans now held in Tehran and billions in assets once held by South Korea.

The acknowledgment by the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York comes as the Biden administration has issued a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of US sanctions.

The moves by both Tehran and Washington appear to signal the prisoner swap is progressing as the money once held in South Korean won is converted into euros and moved to Qatar, where Iran will be able to use it for humanitarian purposes.

In a statement to The Associated Press, Ali Karimi Magham, a spokesman for the Iranian mission, confirms the list of prisoners that Tehran wants released.

The five sought by the Iranians are:

• Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, an Iranian charged in 2021 with allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent on Iran’s behalf while lobbying US officials on issues like nuclear policy;

• Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military gear;

• Amin Hasanzadeh, an Iranian and permanent resident of the United States whom prosecutors charged in 2019 with allegedly stealing engineering plans from his employer to send to Iran;

• Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, an Iranian charged in 2021 over allegedly unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran; and

• Kambiz Attar Kashani, an Iranian-American sentenced in February to 30 months in prison for purchasing “sophisticated, top-tier U.S. electronic equipment and software” through front companies in the United Arab Emirates.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the list.

5:53 pm

Top Hamas leader in Beirut in a bid to stop clashes at Palestinian refugee camp

By AP

Smoke rises during clashes between gunmen from Fatah and rival Islamist factions in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh, near the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, September 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A top Hamas leader arrives in Beirut to push for an end to clashes in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp that resumed despite multiple ceasefire agreements.

Days of fighting in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon left at least six people dead and over 50 others wounded, according to medical officials and state media. Stray bullets and shells hit residential areas in the country’s third-largest city, wounding five Lebanese soldiers at checkpoints near the camp yesterday.

A ceasefire declared late yesterday, after Lebanon’s head of the country’s General Security Directorate met with officials from rival Palestinian factions, lasted just hours before fighting erupted again.

Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk will meet with Lebanese officials and representatives from the Palestinian factions to try and reach a settlement to end the clashes, the militant group said in a statement.

Hamas has not taken part in the clashes.

5:14 pm

Judges say they can only consider reasonableness law, not entire judicial overhaul

President of the Supreme Court Esther Hayut and all fifteen judges assemble to hear petitions against the 'reasonableness clause' at the court premises in Jerusalem, on September 12, 2023. (DEBBIE HILL / POOL / AFP)

Hearing arguments of the petitioners for the High Court to strike down the reasonableness law, the justices challenge the assertion of Eliad Shraga, an attorney for the Movement of Quality Government in Israel, that they can take into account the government’s broader judicial overhaul program as a reason to strike down the legislation under review in court.

“Reasonableness isn’t the story here, they [the government] want to crush the judiciary, that’s the story, that’s what the war is about… They want to chuck out the attorney general, bring back [Shas] chief Aryeh Deri to the cabinet, and not convene the Judicial Selection Committee,” argues Shraga.

Justice Noam Sohlberg insists this is beyond the purview of the court.

“You’re wrapping things together things which are proposals, thoughts. We are judges; we cannot deal with what hasn’t happened,” says Sohlberg.

But Shraga also argues that the law itself should be struck down, not necessarily due its content, which he nevertheless calls “awful,” but because of what he describes as “the invasion” of the legislature into the realm of the judiciary.

“The mortal blow here is the blow to the independence of the court and the separation of powers which this law strikes,” argues Shraga.

4:57 pm

Health ministry urges mask wearing in public gatherings over holidays with COVID on the rise

Men wear protective face masks at a synagogue in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, June 27, 2021 (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

The Health Ministry urges the vulnerable and “those interested in reducing risk” to wear masks in crowded indoor gatherings amid a rise in COVID infections.

A ministry statement says that it is constantly monitoring infections from new variants and currently sees a moderate increase in hospitalizations.

“Ahead of the holidays and as a result of the increase in infections, the Health Ministry recommends that those who are in vulnerable groups and those interested in reducing the risk of infection should wear masks in closed areas with large crowds,” the statement says.

“Also, it is recommended to wear a mask when meeting those in high-risk groups,” the ministry says.

4:34 pm

Knesset committee approves extra NIS 700 million for ultra-Orthodox education

MK Moshe Gafni leads a Finance Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Knesset’s Finance Committee approves a budget transfer of NIS 700 million ($185 million) to a program funding teachers in Haredi and independent educational institutions.

The transfers are a partial fulfillment of coalition promises to ultra-Orthodox parties to infuse their educational systems with cash.

The funds will come from a cross-board cut to government agencies and public services. Among the affected are funds to help Holocaust survivors, childcare subsidies, the disabled, and Education Ministry resources previously earmarked to build new classroom space.

United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni, who chairs the Finance Committee, says that the transfer is part of his vision to increase funding for ultra-Orthodox schools, whose content is largely unregulated by the Education Ministry and which are not required to teach core curriculum subjects.

“We are making every effort to correct the injustice that has accumulated over the years in the lack of funding for Torah education and Torah institutions,” Gafni says.

“This is the first mission that was carried out in accordance with the coalition agreements, and I hope that we will continue, with the help of Heaven, to fill in all the gaps that have harmed the ultra-Orthodox public,” he says.

4:33 pm

Hayut: There needs to be ‘mortal blow’ to democracy to justify striking down Basic Law

Chief Justice Esther Hayut tells Aner Helman, who is representing the attorney general, that there needs to be a “mortal blow” to democracy for the court to justify striking down a Basic Law.

“We can’t nullify Basic Laws every other day. There needs to be a mortal blow to the basic tenets of the state as a democratic state,” Hayut says.

Helman responds, saying that the reasonableness law represents “a major blow to the rule of law, it’s dramatic.”

4:00 pm

Judges ask AG representative if reasonableness bill actually harms democracy

Israelis watch a live screening of a court hearing on petitions against the 'reasonableness' law, at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. September 12, 2023. (Miriam Alster/Flash90) יטול

In his first comments in the hearing, conservative justice David Mintz questions Aner Helman representing the attorney general as to what source there is for the court to strike down a Basic Law such as the one that eliminated the use of the reasonableness standard.

Aner argues that the Declaration of Independence, which stipulates that Israel is a Jewish and democratic state, is the ultimate source for ensuring that the country remains a democratic country.

“By referring to the Declaration of Independence you are creating something out of nothing, there is no implied authority [from the Declaration of Independence],” says Mintz, who has previously written that the court has no authority to strike down Basic Laws.

The justices also ask Helman if the government’s legislation is so damaging to Israeli democracy as to justify striking down a Basic Law.

“Are we not living in a democracy today?” questions Justice Noam Sohlberg.

Helman replies that the test for striking down a Basic Law is not if democracy no longer exists but if the legislation damages Israel’s core democratic principles.

But Supreme Court President Esther Hayut joins Sohlberg’s line of questioning, pointing out that damage to democratic principles “has to be a mortal blow” to justify striking down a Basic Law.

3:36 pm

AG’s office: Court needs to be very worried when the government says ‘trust us’

A representative of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara tells the High Court that it needs to be very concerned by the government’s decision to limit the overview of the court.

Gali Baharav-Miara is not representing the government, having told it to get private representation because she could not defend the reasonableness law.

“We saw an amazing example where the Knesset asked if the court has authority, and then said ‘we will decide,'” lawyer Aner Helman says, presenting the AG’s position.

“If there is one thing that should frighten all of us, it’s when they come and tell us ‘trust us, we won’t harm the Basic Laws,'” Helman says. “That means we all need to be very, very careful.”

3:27 pm

Interim deal reached with teachers union as 200,000 high schoolers stay home

By Gavriel Fiske

View of an empty classroom at a school in Tel Aviv, during a strike of the National Student and Youth Council, on September 12, 2023. (Flash90)

An interim agreement with the Teachers Union has been reached, the Education Ministry announces, after some 200,000 high school students stayed home today.

The deal would end sanctions on high school activities enacted by the union at the beginning of the year, even as a strike in protest of the sanctions, called by Israel’s National Student and Youth Council, saw many skip school today.

The sanctions were enacted by the Teachers Union as part of ongoing negotiations with the government in regard to pay and other issues. They affect extracurricular activities and other events for high school students, including the annual Holocaust education visit to Poland.

The new agreement stipulates that high school teachers are to receive a one-time grant of NIS 2,400, a gradual salary increase, and other benefits, Ynet reports.

In return, the union has agreed to end the sanctions and halt further demands in negotiations for a period of four years on issues where agreements have been reached.

The student strike today saw a “near complete absence” among 11th and 12th graders, and about half of 10th graders staying at home, according to a report in the Calcalist business daily.

The National Student and Youth Council spokeswoman tells The Times of Israel that the strike affected schools in “every sector,” including secular, religious and Arab.

3:05 pm

Iran confirms it’s holding Swedish diplomat, says he ‘committed crimes’

By AFP

An image of Swedish national Johan Floderus during a video call from Iranian prison on August 7, 2023, released by his family in September. (Courtesy)

Iran’s judiciary confirms that it was holding a Swedish national, saying he had “committed crimes” in the Islamic Republic.

“This Swedish citizen has committed crimes in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” judiciary spokesman Massoud Satayshi says.

Last week, the European Union said Swedish diplomat Johan Floderus, a 33-year-old who works for the bloc, had been detained in Iran for more than 500 days.

Satayshi said the Swede was sent “to prison with a legal order.”

He said an investigation into the case “is being finalized” and will be sent to the relevant court “in the coming days.”

The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said last week that the bloc had been pushing “relentlessly” for the Swede’s release.

The Swedish government has also called on Iran to free Floderus.

2:49 pm

Lebanese media confirm Gallant’s claim Iran is building airport in southern Lebanon

By Gianluca Pacchiani

This image presented by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a speech at a conference at Reichman University in Herzliya, September 11, 2023, shows an aiport allegedly built by Iran in southern Lebanon. (Defense Ministry)

Lebanese media, citing a non-Israeli source, confirm Israel’s accusations that Iran is building an airfield in southern Lebanon to launch attacks against Israel.

The source says that the site can accommodate large drones, including armed ones, similar to those produced by Iran, according to Lebanese media outlet Al-Jadeed.

The source says they believe drones launched from the airfield will mostly be used internally.

Yesterday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Iran of setting up an airport in southern Lebanon, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Israeli border, which he said was being used “for terror purposes” against Israelis.

2:27 pm

Hezbollah says it arrested man suspected of spying for Israel

By Gianluca Pacchiani

Fighters from the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah carry out a training exercise in Aaramta village in the Jezzine District, southern Lebanon, May 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The Hezbollah security forces have arrested a man suspected of spying for Israel, according to a report published in the Lebanese news outlet Al Jadeed.

The man, only identified by his initials M.T.D, is in his thirties and comes from the town of Majdal Zoun, in the Tyre district in southern Lebanon, but according to village residents lives in Germany.

The report published yesterday says he comes to Lebanon periodically, rents apartments and cars in the Tyre area, uses unregistered phone numbers, and provides coordinates of specific sites to his Israeli contacts.

The man was reportedly arrested upon his arrival at Beirut airport by Hezbollah security agents.

On August 25, Lebanese authorities said they arrested a couple at Beirut airport as they were trying to flee the country, who reportedly confessed they were spying for Israel inside the country.

Such claims are made regularly, but their veracity cannot be established. Lebanese security services have arrested dozens of people over the years on suspicions of collaborating with Israel, with some receiving jail terms of up to 25 years.

Israel never comments on such allegations.

2:18 pm

Libyan city buries 700 people killed in devastating floods as 10,000 still missing

By AP

In this photo provided by the Libyan government, a seaside road is collapsed after heavy flooding in Derna, Libya, on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. (Libyan government via AP)

Libya’s eastern city of Derna has buried 700 people killed in devastating flooding and 10,000 are reported missing as rescue teams struggle to retrieve many more bodies from the horrific deluge, officials say.

Mediterranean storm Daniel on Sunday night caused havoc and flash flooding in many towns in eastern Libya but the worst destruction was in Derna, where heavy rainfall and floods broke dams and washed away entire neighborhoods, authorities say.

“The situation is catastrophic,” says Othman Abduljaleel, the health minister in Libya’s eastern government. “The bodies are still lying on the ground in many parts (of the city). Hospitals are filled with bodies. And there are areas we have yet to reach.”

Authorities estimated earlier that as many as 2,000 people may have perished in Derna alone. The Ambulance and Emergency Authority, which coordinates search and rescue efforts, says that about 2,300 people died in Derna but does not clarify what that figure was based on.

Emergency responders, including troops, government workers, volunteers and residents were digging through rubble to recover the dead. They also used inflatable boats to retrieve bodies from the water. Excavators and other equipment have yet to arrive in Derna.

2:10 pm

Security cabinet stalls on Ben Gvir demand to harshen conditions of security prisoners

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sept. 10, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash 90)

The security cabinet says there will be no decision on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s demand to harshen conditions for Palestinian security prisoners until after the Jewish High Holidays.

“The cabinet will hold a discussion in October on the issue of the security prisoners in jails. Until then there will be no changes,” says a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The security cabinet also authorizes a heightened alert status and the security forces’ preparations ahead of the holidays that start Friday evening with the Jewish New Year.

Ben Gvir has been adamant that his measures would go into effect immediately despite opposition from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the security services.

Ben Gvir wants family visitation rights for Palestinian security prisoners to go down from once a month to once every two months.

Though Ben Gvir’s ministry is responsible for internal security, Netanyahu is widely seen as distrusting his far-right police minister and has been said to often keep him out of key discussions with top security officials.

1:52 pm

Hayut: People will suffer if they can’t challenge unreasonable ministerial decisions

President of the Supreme Court Esther Hayut and Supreme Court Justices at a court hearing on petitions against the government's "Reasonableness Bill", at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, September 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Supreme Court President Justice Esther Hayut challenges Ilan Bombach, the attorney representing the government, over the total ban the law imposed on the courts’ ability to review government and ministerial decisions based on the reasonableness standard.

She argues that numerous citizens have in the past received justifiable relief from unreasonable ministerial decisions through the reasonableness standard, and that there are such cases still pending before the courts, but that they no longer have anyone to turn to.

“The reasonableness standard has existed for decades, at least 40 years if not since the beginning of the state, and you are blocking every court from granting relief to litigants and saying the court cannot even hear the case.

“There are thousands of individual decisions that ministers make that affect citizens’ daily lives, and citizens who report to the courts on unreasonable decisions but they aren’t able to prove that inappropriate considerations were used. Most of the time we don’t intervene, but sometimes there is reason to do so. But today the law prevents every court in the country from doing so,” she says.

1:35 pm

Ex-Walla editor at Netanyahu trial: News staff underwent ‘aggressive coercion’ on Netanyahu coverage

Avi Alkalay, former editor at the Walla news site, arrives to testify in the corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Jerusalem District Court, September 12, 2023. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

As national attention is on the High Court hearing on the reasonableness law, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial is continuing at the Jerusalem District Court.

Avi Alkalay, the former editor of the Walla news site, says that in 2015-2016, the outlet’s editorial staff underwent “very aggressive mental coercion regarding the content relating to the Netanyahu family.”

He says interventions on behalf of Walla owner Shaul Elovitch sought to portray the Netanyahus as “always good and in the right, both on politics matters and on personal things.”

Alkalay is a witness in Case 4000, which involves allegations that Netanyahu handed the Elovitch-owned Bezeq telecom giant regulatory benefits in exchange for editorial intervention in Walla in Netanyahu’s favor. Netanyahu is charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in the case. He denies any wrongdoing in this case, as well as in two other cases.

1:06 pm

High Court judge to government lawyer: ‘Democracy dies in a series of small steps’

High Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut (center) and justices Isaac Amit (right) and Uzi Vogelman at a court hearing on petitions against the government's reasonableness law at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, September 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Ilan Bombach, a privately hired lawyer representing the government in the High Court hearing on the reasonableness law, argues that the law doesn’t not erode Israel’s democratic character, as petitioners argue.

Justice Isaac Amit replies that historically, “democracy dies in a series of small steps” and points at the series of other judicial overhaul laws that have been declared or have started their legislative process.

At that point, Likud MK Tally Gotliv interrupts from the backbenches, shouting that “the Knesset sanctifies democracy and preserves it.”

Court President Esther Hayut admonishes Gotliv, noting that since the MK is a lawyer she should know that interjections from the sidelines aren’t allowed in court.

12:58 pm

Judge: Can High Court not intervene if a Basic Law bars Arabs from voting?

The High Court judges continue to challenge Ilan Bombach on the government’s contention that the court has no authority to review Basic Laws.

Justice Anat Baron asks whether or not a Basic Law could be passed to restrict elections to just once every 10 years, or to ban Arabs from voting.

“Who will determine if that is extremist or not?” she asks.

“Those empowered to determine the content of Basic Laws are the sovereign, which is the people through elections. The court does not determine values,” responds Bombach.

12:48 pm

Opposition party slams ‘anti-Zionist’ government for downplaying Declaration of Independence

The opposition leading Yesh Atid party says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is destroying Israel’s founding principles, after the private attorney representing the government in today’s High Court of Justice hearing questioned the country’s “hasty” Declaration of Independence.

In a post on X, Yesh Atid accuses the government’s representative of “going against the Declaration of Independence.”

“There is no clearer proof that there is an anti-Zionist, anti-Israeli, anti-democratic government in Israel that will burn the pages of history and blacken the founders of the state, all for despicable political considerations,” the party continues.

Minutes earlier, Ilan Bombach, the lawyer representing the government, questioned the authority of the Declaration of Independence, considered a guiding document but lacking in legal standing.

“Because 37 people were authorized to sign the hasty Declaration of Independence, which at the last moment was still in draft stage, this should bind people who came later?” Bombach asked the court.

“Would it be conceivable that people who were never elected, these 37 people, the members of the Provisional Council, unwittingly created a document for us called a constitution and would bind all future generations? It is unthinkable,” Bombach continued.

12:41 pm

Elbit Systems says it will hand the IDF upgraded version of Skylark drone

This undated handout photo published by Elbit Systems on September 12, 2023, shows the new Skylark 1 eVTOL drone. (Elbit Systems)

Israeli weapons maker Elbit Systems will be providing the military’s Artillery Corps with an upgraded version of the Skylark tactical reconnaissance drone, which has been in use since 2008.

The new model, a vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aircraft, “significantly expands the operations of tactical forces and enables fast deployment,” the firm says.

The Skylark 1 eVTOL will replace the IDF Artillery Corps’ aging hand-launched Skylark 1.

Elbit says Skylark 1 eVTOL weighs up to 20 kilograms (44 lbs) including a payload of 2 kilograms, and can fly up to speeds of 65 knots (120 km/h), up to altitudes of 15,000 feet (4,500m), and distances of 40 kilometers (24 miles).

The Skylark drones are used by the Artillery Corps to provide a live video feed to soldiers on the ground. It is known in the military in Hebrew as the “sky rider.”

12:27 pm

Judges challenge government’s assertion that High Court can’t intervene in Basic Laws

Attorney Ilan Bombach, representing the Israeli government, arrives at a court hearing on petitions against the government's reasonableness law, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, September 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Ilan Bombach, the attorney who is representing the government in the High Court hearing on the reasonableness law since Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara refuses to do so, addresses the court and focuses on the argument that the top court lacks the authority to strike down quasi-constitutional Basic Laws.

Bombach says the justices are merely empowered to interpret the legislator’s words, and that there is no legal or constitutional basis for them reviewing Basic Laws.

In response, Justice Alex Stein asks: “What is the source of the Knesset to legislate laws?”

When Bombach points to a 1950 Supreme Court ruling, the judge points out that the Knesset was formed before that and that the original source of power is the Declaration of Independence.

Multiple justices challenge Bombach during the hearing by indicating that in their view, since the Declaration of Independence defines Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, the Knesset cannot legislate laws — even Basic Laws — that erode Israel’s Jewish or democratic character. If the Knesset is limited in its capacity to pass Basic Laws, that would mean the High Court has the authority to review Basic Laws.

Bombach is rebuked by the judges for downplaying the significance of the Declaration of Independence.

“Because 37 people were authorized to sign the hasty Declaration of Independence, which at the last moment was still in draft stage, [the Declaration] should bind those who are supposed to be in the future?” Bombach asks the court.

“Would it be conceivable that people who were never elected, these 37 people, the members of the Provisional State Council, unwittingly created a document for us called a constitution that would bind all future generations? It is unthinkable,” Bombach continues.

Bombach adds that the people elected the Knesset as a constituent branch, which legislates Basic Laws, in addition to its power as a legislative branch, and that the Knesset’s power additionally stems from the people’s choice.

Bombach tries several times to switch the discussion to the reasonableness law itself, calling the question of the Knesset’s source of power a “theoretical, academic” discussion, but the justices press on the matter, pointing out that the government’s argument began by stressing the High Court’s lack of authority to intervene in Basic Laws.

11:53 am

Putin calls Trump legal cases ‘politically motivated persecution’

By AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin describes legal proceedings against former US president Donald Trump as “politically motivated persecution.”

The Kremlin, seen as having friendly relations with Trump, has repeatedly spoken out in defense of the former president, who is facing a series of charges linked to election interference.

“As for the persecution of Trump, for us, in the current environment, it’s good because it shows the rottenness of the American system,” Putin says at an economic forum in East Asia. “It is a politically motivated persecution of one’s competitor.”

Putin, who served in the Soviet security services and is himself widely accused of persecuting, jailing and assassinating political rivals, added: “And this shows who we are fighting… As they said in Soviet times: ‘The bestial face of American capitalism.'”

Relations between Washington and Moscow, strained by a litany of issues under Putin, have hit new lows since the Kremlin launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

11:36 am

Rothman tells court it can’t void overhaul law; judges rebuke him for ‘political’ arguments

People watch a livestream of MK Simcha Rothman speaking during a High Court hearing on petitions against the government's reasonableness law, in Tel Aviv, September 12, 2023. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

MK Simcha Rothman, who spearheaded the legislation of the reasonableness law, begins his response to the petitions in his role as chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and argues that the court has no right to intervene in the law.

In a tense exchange in which several justices tell him he is making political declarations rather than legal arguments, Rothman admonishes the court that “a privileged elite will not be able to protect rights in the long term,” and, citing comments made by former Supreme Court justice Moshe Landau, implies that the Supreme Court has become “an oligarchic regime of a [small] group of people.”

“What is the justification to take away the basic characteristic of the State of Israel as a democratic state, its free elections, the ability of the public to express its opinion, the ability of the public to change the laws that run their lives, the ability of the public to determine how the government is run?” Rothman demands.

Justice Anat Baron challenges him, asking: “What if the Knesset said that elections would take place only every 10 years, or that Arabs do not have the right to vote, or that it is forbidden to travel on Shabbat — what would you say?”

Rothman responds: “If we make a mistake, we can correct it when we are made aware of it, and if we don’t — we can be replaced via the ballot box.”

11:20 am

IDF says Palestinian gunmen carried out 2 shootings overnight in West Bank

Palestinian gunmen opened fire and hurled an explosive device from a passing vehicle at the Jalameh checkpoint in the northern West Bank overnight, the Israel Defense Forces says.

The checkpoint was closed to traffic at the time, and no injuries were caused.

In another attack last night, a Palestinian gunman opened fire near the settlement of Sal’it, south of the West Bank city of Tulkarem, the IDF says.

The military says troops returned fire at the armed suspect, and later found an abandoned gun in the area, suspected to have been used in the attack.

Separately, 16 wanted Palestinians were detained during overnight raids across the West Bank, with clashes in some areas, the IDF says.

11:01 am

Hayut says law eliminating ‘reasonableness standard’ goes against trends in other countries

Supreme Court President Esther Hayut says during the discussion of the reasonableness law that around the world the trend is expanding the use of the judicial test of reasonableness to review government decisions — in contrast to the Israeli law in question.

“Here, we are moving toward a trend of canceling [it],” she says, giving England and Australia as examples of countries that have increasingly used the doctrine.

Knesset lawyer Yitzhak Bart replies: “We had a big change 40 years ago and since then the pendulum has been swinging.”

10:32 am

Palestinian terror groups in Gaza hold drill, including rocket fire toward sea

The so-called “Joint Operations Room” of various Palestinian terror factions in the Gaza Strip is holding an exercise this morning, including rocket fire.

Footage published by Palestinian media outlets shows a barrage of rockets fired toward the Mediterranean Sea.

مصادر عبرية: بالتزامن مع إجتماع للكابينت سيعقد الساعة الـ10، تجري المقاومة الفلسطينية في #غزة، مناورة عسكرية مشتركة وواسعة.#ترجمة_نيو_برس
لمتابعة آخر الأخبار عبر قناة نيو برس على تيلجرام https://t.co/6BCL5wfFPS pic.twitter.com/A24gKItYMI

— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) September 12, 2023

10:31 am

Judges rejects Knesset lawyer’s attempts to minimize impact of reasonableness law

Yitzhak Bart, an attorney representing the Knesset legal adviser, downplays the impact of the reasonableness limitation law, arguing that rather than strike down the law, the High Court could use its ability to interpret laws to remedy the vacuum in judicial review over government decisions caused by the legislation.

For example, he says, judges could rule that the law does not apply to interim governments, because such governments could abuse the absence of the reasonableness standard.

Supreme Court President Esther Hayut questions this position, asking on what basis within the text of the reasonableness law the court could make such an interpretation.

“What in the law allows us to differentiate between different types of reasonableness?” she says. “Are you not inviting us to rewrite the law? If we say it doesn’t apply to interim governments… then we are rewriting the law.”

Bart later continues to argue: “It’s not that the reasonableness standard has been canceled. The precedent of previous decisions for the government to act with reasonableness remains. The attorney general and legal advisers will continue to tell the government when it is acting without reasonableness.”

Justice Ofer Grosskopf interjects: “But there will be no way to enforce it.”

Bart then says: “The idea that the ministers will only listen to the attorney general if [the court] has a sledgehammer [of being able to strike down government decisions through the reasonableness standard] is simplistic.”

To this, Justice Uzi Vogelman replies: “This argument is disconnected [from reality]. It’s a very optimistic vision.”

10:00 am

Judges challenge Knesset lawyer, who admits flaws but says overhaul law mustn’t be voided

The 15 justices on the High Court attend a hearing on petitions against the government's reasonableness law, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, September 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)

Yitzhak Bart, an attorney representing the Knesset in the High Court of Justice hearing on the reasonableness law, acknowledges that the legislative process was hurried and had some flaws, but argues that these are nowhere near the threshold that justifies nullifying it.

“It would have been appropriate for the discussions to go on longer, it would have been appropriate to give an expression to some of the [opposition] remarks at the committee,” Bart admits.

Justice Yechiel Kasher asks Bart how he can argue that the source for the Knesset’s right to legislate Basic Laws is the Declaration of Independence, while at the same time not viewing as mandatory that same document’s mandating that a full constitution be legislated, which hasn’t happened in 75 years.

Bart later argues that the Knesset “didn’t want to exempt the government from the obligation to act with reasonableness, it could have done that through a regular law, but instead it reduced the court’s use of the judicial standard — while not eradicating the obligation to act with reasonableness.”

Multiple justices ask Bart how this reconciles with eliminating the justice system’s ability to enforce the resonableness standard in relation to government and ministerial decisions.

“Who ensures that [ministers] in fact act with reasonableness? You agree that there is a legal obligation, but say that there can be no judge [to enforce it],” court president Esther Hayut says critically.

9:12 am

Key overhaul proponent MK Simcha Rothman arrives at High Court

This handout photo shows MK Simcha Rothman, second from left, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem ahead of a hearing on the reasonableness law, September 12, 2023. (Office of Simcha Rothman)

MK Simcha Rothman, the primary backer of the reasonableness curtailment law and architect of the coalition’s judicial overhaul, has arrived at the High Court of Justice ahead of the hearing on potentially voiding the law.

Rothman says he will soon make a statement to the court.

9:12 am

WATCH: Fateful High Court hearing on reasonableness law gets underway in Jerusalem

One of the most consequential hearings in the High Court of Justice in the country’s history gets underway, with civil society organizations petitioning the court to strike down the government’s “reasonableness” law, an amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary and a key part of the coalition’s judicial overhaul agenda.

The proceedings are being livestreamed online.

The hearing is essentially a clash over Israel’s proto-constitution, with the petitioners claiming that the law limiting the judiciary’s power to review government decisions violates Israel’s democratic character, while the government will argue that Israel’s constitutional arrangement bans the court from intervening in Basic Laws.

The government and its legal representatives will be the first to plead to the unprecedented 15-justice panel, and will argue both that the court is subject to the Basic Laws and therefore cannot overturn them, and that the law does not harm Israeli democracy.

The petitioners will then argue that the law undermines key guardrails of Israel’s democracy and should therefore be struck down.

The comments and questions the High Court justices make during the hours-long hearing will be key in gaining an insight into how they might ultimately rule on this explosive case, which could take weeks or even months.

8:33 am

Tel Aviv Museum of Art to hold screening of High Court hearing, suspends admission fees

In a rare move, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art is suspending admission fees today in order to allow the public to attend a mass screening of today’s High Court of Justice hearing on the museum premises.

“At this decisive moment, at which Israeli democracy is being tested,” the Museum writes on its Facebook page, the Museum will broadcast the hearings live on a giant screen.

מחר, יום שלישי 12 בספטמבר 2023, ידון בית המשפט העליון בהרכב חסר תקדים של 15 שופטים, בעתירות הדנות בביטול עילת…

Posted by ‎מוזיאון תל אביב לאמנות – Tel Aviv Museum of Art‎ on Monday, September 11, 2023

8:27 am

Lapid: ‘Thuggish’ reasonableness law is ‘not a Basic Law’ since process was flawed

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid speaks at a protest against the judicial overhaul, in Modiin, July 22, 2023. (Jonathan Shaul/ Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid argues in a statement that the issue up for question today at the High Court of Justice isn’t whether the court has the authority to nullify quasi-constitutional Basic Laws, because the reasonableness law “isn’t a Basic Law” and doesn’t even “resemble a Basic Law.”

“This is an irresponsible document that someone wrote ‘Basic Law’ on it and they have since demanded treating it as a holy scripture,” Lapid says.

“The High Court will this morning discuss a law that is a deviant and thuggish private member’s bill by Simcha Rothman, which wasn’t even passed by the government, which was managed in a process that was violent, rushed, sloppy, boisterous and unrestrained, and which has nothing to do with Basic Laws,” Lapid says.

“Those who want Basic Laws to be treated with awe should start by legislating them in an adequate process,” he adds. “Basic Laws have a procedure. A minimum of respect for the process. This minimum didn’t happen. Not even close.”

8:10 am

IDF, police say they foiled attempt to smuggle explosives from Jordan to West Bank