Hayut: We’re not considering abolishing recusal law, only the timing of its application

Knesset attorney Yitzhak Bart says the purpose of the law isn’t to allow prime ministers to act in conflict of interest, calling this a “harsh conclusion.”

He says the premier’s duty to refrain from conflicts of interest doesn’t stem from Basic Law: The Government, which the recusal law is an amendment to.

One of the justices says this line of argument “has no chance of success.”

Chief Justice Esther Hayut says what’s on the line isn’t the potential voiding of the law: “The injunction [the court issued] doesn’t talk about abolishing the law, the lacuna in the law has been filled. No one issued an injunction against the entire law, we’re only talking about when the law should be implemented.”

Justice Ofer Grosskopf adds: “The question is whether a government that changes the conditions that apply to it while it is serving is changing the rules of the game.”

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.