MK Rothman: Reasonableness law meant to return democracy to the State of Israel

Carrie Keller-Lynn is a former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel

Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman speaks during a debate on the "reasonableness" bill, in the Knesset, Jerusalem on July 23, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman speaks during a debate on the "reasonableness" bill, in the Knesset, Jerusalem on July 23, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

MK Simcha Rothman, who shepherded the bill to cancel court oversight over the “reasonableness” of government and minister decisions, says it will return authority to elected officials by removing court opinions from administrative decrees.

Charging that the reasonableness test has been wielded by the court to exercise liberal political control over right-wing policy, Rothman says sarcastically: “Whenever we decide, it becomes not reasonable.”

The bill “is meant to return democracy to the State of Israel,” Rothman continues, introducing the bill his Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee sponsored, at coalition orders.

The Constitution Committee chair cites a number of legal scholars, including law professor Yoav Dotan, to argue for the longstanding need to amend the court test.

Earlier this month, Dotan testified to the Constitution Committee that its proposal went beyond his recommendations and was akin to “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”

“The reasonableness test is something that has deserved criticism for more than 40 years,” Rothman says.

“The only reason it’s raising emotions… is because of one reason: they lost the election and they went out to the street against the election results and the mandate of the people, not against amendments to the reasonableness doctrine,” Rothman says.

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