Justice questions standing of opposition MK to petition against recusal law

Next up among the petitioners at today’s High Court of Justice hearing on the recusal law is lawyer Uri Haberman, who is representing MK Oded Forer of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party.

Justice Noam Sohlberg questions whether Forer’s petition should be deliberated before the court, saying the Knesset member could have filed a bill to amend the law.

“Arguments like this… need to be raised in the Knesset, not here,” the judge says.

Haberman goes on to criticize the passage of the legislation as an amendment to one of Israel’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws, none of which the court has ever struck down.

“We need to put an end to this,” he says regarding the alleged misuse of the Basic Laws, while urging that the law not take effect until the next Knesset.

The court is now recessing for 15 minutes.