Renegade Likud MK says she’ll petition High Court over sanctions against her
Judicial overhaul backer Tally Gotliv blasts ‘unreasonable’ decision by coalition leadership, invoking an argument that she’s trying to prevent the court from using in future cases
Renegade Likud MK Tally Gotliv said Friday she planned to petition the High Court of Justice over the parliamentary sanctions that were imposed against her by her party the previous day.
Gotliv was punished after she bucked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand to rescind her candidacy for a spot on the Judicial Selection Committee, sparking parliamentary chaos and an embarrassing defeat for the ruling bloc in the vote for the panel.
The move by an ardent backer of the government’s effort to curb the High Court’s powers to now seek its intervention in her personal affair garnered snickers from opposition figures — particularly over her claim that the decision to sanction her had been “unreasonable,” as one of the pillars of the judicial overhaul plan is an effort to prohibit the High Court from using the test of reasonableness to evaluate government and administrative decisions.
Coalition whip Ofir Katz on Thursday evening announced a series of sanctions against Gotliv over her Wednesday conduct at the Knesset, which upended the premier’s plan to force a do-over vote in a month’s time for the two spots on the judicial selection panel. Instead, Gotliv lost out while the opposition’s Karine Elharrar won a spot.
Gotliv will be removed from her parliamentary committee assignments, including her seat on the influential Constitution, Law and Justice Committee which has been tasked with advancing the judicial overhaul legislation. She will also be barred from submitting any legislation and will be prevented from formally speaking on behalf of the Likud party in Knesset proceedings, Katz said.
Hours earlier, Gotliv insisted in interviews that she would not be punished for her conduct and warned that right-wingers would take to the streets in droves if she were punished. She also argued that because the Knesset vote had been a secret ballot, coalition discipline did not apply and she was free to act as she pleased without being subject to sanctions.
In a Friday morning tweet, Gotliv continued to defend herself, saying it was “my duty and my right to do parliamentary work in the Knesset. This is exactly what the public pays me for.”
“Shutting my mouth through draconian and unchecked sanctions is harmful and illegal,” she added.
“After investigating the unreasonableness and illegality of the decision in my case, I intend to submit a notice to the Knesset legal adviser before going to the High Court of Justice. The Knesset is not the Wild West.”
As the jeering over her stance escalated, Gotliv posted a follow-up tweet Friday afternoon in which she addressed those “speaking in slogans.”
“The decision to sanction me is illegal! My right to vote and be elected cannot be conditioned,” the Likud MK said.
“It has nothing to do with the claim of ‘unreasonableness’ (although it exists). Likud never undermined the High Court of Justice, rather [fought against] its authority to intervene in legal government decisions on the grounds that they are unreasonable.”
Gotliv was defeated soundly in Wednesday’s vote, during which at least four members of her own party are believed to have backed Elharrar in the secret ballot. Elharrar was elected while no coalition candidate was chosen, in a major political embarrassment for the ruling bloc.
The premier had directed the coalition to vote against both Gotliv and Elharrar to give himself another month to get his coalition in line before another vote would be held, but the renegade Likud votes for Elharrar scuppered his plan. The coalition will now need to schedule a new vote to secure its own representative on the committee.
In a Thursday Ynet interview, Gotliv maintained that the vote on Elharrar’s candidacy exposed the existence of “traitors” within Likud. Gotliv claimed it also proved her fears that the government’s judicial overhaul “is dead” and that the coalition does not have the majority necessary to pass the overhaul legislation.
This week’s ordeal was not the first time Gotliv has found herself at odds with Netanyahu and other senior lawmakers in Likud. But it did appear to mark the lowest point in her relationship with the premier, who had helped her cut corners within the party in order to run for the Knesset. Gotliv, an attorney, burst onto the national scene during last year’s election campaign, making a name for herself with her impassioned defenses of Netanyahu and of her work as a defense attorney, during which time she frequently represented those accused of rape and sexual harassment.
Gotliv, who forcefully speaks out against the feminist movement, was placed on the 25th spot on the Likud slate, reserved for new female candidates.
The honeymoon period between her and Netanyahu’s inner circle ended shortly after the November election though.
The freshman, firebrand lawmaker accused Netanyahu’s aides in December of having leaked to the press their request that she tone down the rhetoric and become more reverent — an appeal that she did not appreciate. Gotliv accused Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman of misogyny and chauvinism that was harming the party and its leader.
In February, Gotliv claimed Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut was to blame for a recent Palestinian terror ramming, claiming the latter’s warning against the overhaul plan had prompted Israel’s enemies to commit attacks because they “identify a weakness” in Israeli society.
Netanyahu went on to issue a statement distancing himself from Gotliv, asserting that only the terrorist behind the attack was responsible for it.
In April, Gotliv gave a speech at a demonstration in support of judicial reform in which she accused anti-overhaul protesters of treason, leading to condemnation from several lawmakers in her own party who said she should act with more restraint.
She has also sparred with Likud MK David Bitan, who in April accused her of damaging the Likud’s public image. She subsequently tweeted that she pities the veteran lawmaker for giving up his principles in the hope that state prosecutors will go easy on him in his own corruption case.
