From the Liveblog of
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Left us no choice: Levin seems to threaten resumption of judicial overhaul push
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
In an extended attack on the High Court posted to Facebook, Justice Minister Yariv Levin appears to threaten the revival of the government’s frozen judicial overhaul program.
“Immediately after the outbreak of the war, the coalition announced the freezing of all engagement with legal reform. At the time, I thought it was wrong to engage in controversial issues when the country was in a multi-front war,” Levin states.
However, the High Court has “effectively stripped me of the authority granted to me by law to set the agenda of the Judicial Selection Committee,” he claims, condemning the court’s recent ruling that he must hold a vote for a new chief justice by January 16.
Levin charges that since October 7, the court has “took over the powers of the Knesset” by striking down the government’s reasonableness limitation law — a key piece of judicial overhaul legislation — and issuing rulings related to the conditions of Palestinian prisoners and the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“The government acted responsibly and with the outbreak of the war suspended all engagement in reform. The court, with the utmost irresponsibility, decided to take advantage of this to continue to take over the powers of the Knesset and the government,” he continues, arguing that the government has “no choice at this time but to act to order to restore its powers.”
“They left us no choice. It cannot continue like this. We also have rights,” he declares.
