Levin, ahead of vote: Reasonableness legislation will restore Israel to roster of democratic nations

Speaking to the Knesset shortly before it votes on the first reading of the “reasonableness” bill, Justice Minister Yariv Levin declares that “this law” — which will still have to pass its second and third readings —  “restores Israel to the roster of democratic nations.”

“It doesn’t place the government above the law,” he says, but, rather, allows the government to carry out the policies for which it won public support.

It will change the current situation, he says, under which a High Court bench of as few as three, non-elected judges — “on the basis of what they personally consider ‘reasonable,’ a subjective and in some cases political” assessment — can prevent the elected government from carrying out its policies.

“This is the moment to finally correct the judicial system,” he concludes, after a speech marked by considerable heckling from the opposition benches.

MK Simcha Rothman, who steered the bill through the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee to this first reading, concludes the debate with a short speech asking parliament to back the legislation.