Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the hearing taking place today (Tuesday) in the High Court regarding 15 petitions thatFiled against the “Nationality Law,” with an expanded panel of 11 judges“The court has a very important role in the democratic regime, but it is not an absolute ruler.” “The court has no authority to discuss the validity of basic laws because the basic laws enacted by the Knesset are the highest constitutional norm in the country,” he said. Netanyahu explained: “The court accepts its authority to rule by virtue of a basic law and it cannot judge the source of its own authority.”
Discussion of the Nationality Law in the Supreme Court // Photo: Contact
Earlier today, even before the debate began, Knesset Speaker MK Yariv Levin (Likud) informed Supreme Court President Esther Hayut that any interference with the Basic Laws is lacking in authority and validity. “The very discussion of the esteemed Supreme Court on matters of Basic Laws challenges the most basic democratic principles of the sovereignty of the people, the separation of powers and the rule of law,” Levin wrote in his letter.
“This means that the heavy Supreme Court seeks to take over powers not granted to it by law, to place itself above the sovereignty of the people and over the sovereignty of the Knesset, thus ruling the worldview of its judges as if they were the rulers of the country.” The judge, “he added.
The Speaker of the Knesset further wrote: “Since the Honorable Supreme Court has never been given authority to discuss the validity of Basic Laws, any attempt to intervene in them is devoid of authority and null and void. I further note that any attempt to make use of so-called legal terms such as ‘basic principles of the system’ is nothing but a cover for assuming authority and governmental power, which the esteemed Supreme Court does not hold. “
In summarizing his letter to Liv, Levin wrote that “the discussions on the issue in question take place without authority, while trampling on the basic principles of the democratic regime and trampling on the powers and status of the Knesset. It is also invalid. “
Defense Minister Bnei Gantz called the letter sent by Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin to President Hayut a “threat.” In a tweet on his Twitter account, Gantz wrote: “We have succeeded in this to this day and we will make sure that they do not succeed in the future.”
Yariv Levin and Netanyahu’s threats to the court are dangerous to democracy and dismantle the separation of powers. They have not succeeded to this day — and we will make sure that they do not succeed in the future either.
– Benny Gantz – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) December 22, 2020
The Basic Law was approved by the Knesset on July 19, 2018 by a majority of 62 in favor, 55 against and two abstentions, and states that the State of Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people, and that it has a natural right to self-determination.
In addition, the law enshrines in the Basic Law the status of the emblem of the State of Israel, the flag of Israel and “hope” as the national anthem, the Hebrew calendar, Israeli holidays and festivals, and the Hebrew language as the state language. The law also stipulates that the state will encourage Jewish settlement, that complete and united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and that Arabic will not be considered an official language but a language with a special status. The wording of the law that was passed was controversial, mainly due to the lack of mention of Israel as a democratic state that grants equality to all its citizens, and as a result, many petitions were filed that will be discussed today.
