Rothman angrily accuses AG of seeking to ‘manipulate public opinion’ on legal shakeup

Shouts are heard once again at the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee as it considers the next phase of the government’s radical judicial reform package, with committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman accusing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of sending her deputies to “mislead the public” and “manipulate public opinion.”

The incident happens as Deputy Attorney General Avital Sompolinsky presents a legal opinion objecting to a bill that all but eliminates the High Court’s ability to strike down laws, requiring a unanimous ruling by every single one of its 15 justices.

The government’s legal overhaul plans are being blitzed through the committee — and its first phase faces initial Knesset plenum votes tomorrow — despite the clear opposition of the attorney general.

Sompolinsky presents a comparison to other countries on the top court’s ability to strike down laws deemed unconstitutional, saying no democracy demands a unanimous decision and even a special majority is not common, “so this is one way that severely restricts the court’s option to intervene in laws that harm rights anchored in international treaties.”

At one point, Rothman starts shouting at her, accusing her of evading his questions and selectively choosing when to compare the situation with other countries, arguing that in New Zealand and several other countries, the top court doesn’t have the power to strike down laws at all and the judges are selected by the governing coalition.

“The fact that I need to say this and not you is a shame,” Rothman says angrily, accusing Baharav-Miara of sending Sompolinsky “to present [the international comparison] in a misleading way to the public. This is a scandal.”

Opposition MKs retort that Rothman is “humiliating” Sompolinsky and “treating her rudely and with violence.”