Coalition to renew work on bill barring High Court from intervening in ministerial appointments

The coalition intends to restart work on a bill to bar the High Court of Justice from intervening in the appointments of ministers, according to multiple reports in Hebrew media outlets.

The bill was last advanced in 2023, after the court barred Shas leader Aryeh Deri from serving as a minister due to his previous criminal convictions, but at the time was halted before being passed into law. The legislative process is now being restarted due to the High Court examining petitions demanding the dismissal of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Earlier this month the court ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to explain why he has not fired Ben Gvir. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has said Ben Gvir should be fired for systematically abusing his powers and inappropriately intervening in police operations through a “continuous (sometimes sophisticated) system of pressure” on police officers. She alleged that Ben Gvir had used his office to pressure police on issues including the treatment of anti-government protesters, the status quo on the Temple Mount, protection for Gaza-bound aid trucks and appointments within police ranks.

Deri’s office, in a statement tonight, says he supports the bill as “the exclusive authority to appoint and dismiss ministers rests solely with the prime minister, as is appropriate in a democracy.”

However, it asserts that he himself “does not need this law and has no interest in being appointed a minister in the current government.”