Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Thursday, September 28, 2023

Netanyahu’s lawyer: The law didn’t change the rules — PM recusal shouldn’t be part of the rules

28 September 2023, 12:03 pm 0 Edit

Government lawyer Michael Rabello at a High Court of Justice hearing on petitions against the government's prime minister recusal law, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, September 28, 2023. (Screenshot: Youtube; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Netanyahu’s lawyer Michael Rabello tells the High Court that the prime minister recusal law doesn’t “change the rules of the game mid-game,” since judicial officials ordering a premier to step down “isn’t part of the rules of the game in a democracy.”

“There needs to be balance between the branches of government, but this doesn’t mean we can cancel and trample the principle of rule of the majority,” he says.

He argues that the court doesn’t have the authority to set the implementation date of a quasi-constitutional Basic Law.