Rothman to push ‘reasonableness’ bill to Knesset next week

By Carrie Keller-Lynn 3 July 2023, 3:27 pm

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

MK Simcha Rothman, chair of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, leads a committee meeting at the Knesset on June 20, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Knesset Constitution Committee chair Simcha Rothman says he hopes to bring the coalition’s bill to limit judicial review over the reasonableness of elected officials’ decisions for committee approval this week. That would allow it to advance to its first reading on the Knesset floor as early as next Monday.

“I join all those who regret the legislation. I wish we had a court that shouldn’t be restricted, because it uses unreasonableness only when it’s extreme, but that’s not the case,” he adds.

Rothman says that there are stupid and incompetent politicians, but that their decisions should not be subject to court scrutiny, as a principle of democracy.