High Court to strike down reasonableness law in ruling tonight, reports say

Hebrew media outlets report that the High Court of Justice will publish its ruling on the government’s “reasonableness law” this evening and that it will strike down the controversial legislation, which is an amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary.

This would be the first time the court strikes down any aspect of one of Israel’s Basic Laws, which have quasi-constitutional status.

A draft of the ruling leaked last week to Channel 12 suggested that there was an 8-7 majority on the court to strike down the legislation, which bans the courts from using the judicial standard of reasonableness to review and annul decisions made by the cabinet and government ministers.

Before October 7, some government ministers and coalition MKs indicated they may not respect a decision to annul the legislation, which would lead to a severe constitutional crisis. The ongoing war against Hamas and Hezbollah may temper such reactions, however.

There had been some reports of efforts underway by some members of the coalition to delay the publication of the decision through legislation, but those would be rendered moot if the ruling is published later today as reported.