Elkin fires back at court in defense of PM

Minister of Diaspora Affairs Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) rejects criticism voiced yesterday by Supreme Court Justices Hanan Melcer and Elyakim Rubinstein on Netanyahu’s holding several ministerial positions.

Elkin tells Israel Radio that “it’s bizarre that Melcer woke up more than a decade after Basic Law: The Government was amended and decided to establish new norms.”

Since the law was amended, he said, several prime ministers have held ministerial position and High Court of Justice justices never saw anything wrong with the practice. “In a well-functioning democracy the Supreme Court should interpret the law, not legislate itself or run the country,” Elkin says, adding that if Melcer’s statements become a ruling, the existing law may require clarifications.

Yesterday, Melcer and Rubinstein criticized the fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding the foreign affairs, communications, health and regional cooperation portfolios, while the ministries are headed in practice by deputy ministers and in one case by a minister without portfolio.

The justices spoke at a hearing devoted to a petition by Yesh Atid on the issue. Their critical comments were picked up by the media and understood by the government as an expression of disagreement but legally they do not bind the government.