Netanyahu: Tension between government and court is ‘essence of democracy’

At the swearing-in ceremony of new Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a defense of the tense debate over the court’s powers and role in Israel’s democracy.

“Israel’s judicial system is renowned around the world for the quality of its judges, its independence, and the fact that it represents the supreme values of millennia, which have again found fertile ground in Israel’s democracy,” Netanyahu says.

He cautions against believing that the tensions between lawmakers and the court in recent years are a sign of a weakening of Israel’s democracy.

“There is a natural and healthy tension between the branches of government,” he says, noting clashes between courts and governments in Germany, the US, Britain and elsewhere. “This debate over where the boundary passes between the branches [of government] is not the end of democracy, it is the essence of democracy.”

And, he adds, “these boundaries must change with the times. But what doesn’t change is the need for a strong, independent and honest court.”