In an unprecedented letter against the new Israeli government’s plan for significant reforms to the judicial system, nearly all the legal advisors and state attorneys who have been in office over the last 50 years were reported to have signed the document. In the manifesto, which was also signed by the previous Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, it is written that the plan of Justice Minister Yariv Levin "threatens to destroy the justice system."
The letter was revealed by Yedioth Ahronoth a day after Levin presented the judicial reform first draft, and ahead of Supreme Court’s President Esther Hayut’s speech, which is expected to be particularly harsh towards the new government. The speech will be held at the annual conference of the Association for Public Law at the University of Haifa, and Legal Adviser to the Government Gali Beharve-Miara will also speak. Conspicuously missing from the conference, however, will be Justice Minister Levin, who is said to not be attending the conference, a rarity for a sitting minister of Justice.
Netanyahu Repudiates Claim that Judicial Reforms Threaten Israeli Democracy- https://t.co/cJy2W5Nx40 @netanyahu #Israel #democracy #judicialreforms @yairlapid @Gideonsaar2 @YarivLevine @KnessetIL
— The Jewish Voice (@JewishVoice) January 11, 2023
The letter is signed, amongst others, by the former legal advisors, the globally respected retired Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, retired Supreme Court Justices Yitzhak Zamir, Eliakim Rubinstein, Manny Mazuz, and Michael Ben Yair, as well as Yehuda Weinstein and Mandelblit.
The letter reads: "We, who served as Attorney General or State Attorney from 1975 until recently, were shocked to hear the plan of Justice Minister Yariv Levin for reforms in the judicial system. We are convinced that this plan does not herald the improvement of the system but threatens to destroy it."
'It's not black and white,' says columnist @BDYemini on the heated debate over judicial reforms
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) January 12, 2023
'The override clause may be in other countries, but in Israel it's a problem... The power will go to the minority parties who can enforce what they think on the coalition' pic.twitter.com/6UVSsksBXv
It was also stated, "The plan proposes to change the method for electing judges, thus turning the Supreme Court from an independent institution, which rules without fear and without bias, into a quasi-political body that will be suspected of biasing the law in favor of the government; it significantly limits the authority of the court exercise effective criticism of the government to ensure it does not abuse its power; It allows a coalition majority to legalize any action of the government, no matter how wrong and harmful it may be, through a superseding clause; It may prevent the function of the legal advisors in the government offices as gatekeepers whose job it is to warn against potentially illegal decisions.
Eight Israeli university and college law faculty deans published a letter criticizing Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s recently proposed judicial reforms.
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) January 9, 2023
By @Starrlord89 | #Education | #Israel | #Lawhttps://t.co/G8gf2ZTk5Y
The policy change most significant in the new reform proposed by Levin, which likely is the reason the proposals are drawing such harsh criticism from the justices states that "legal advice given to the government will not bind it and will not change the legal situation for it. Legal advice given to the prime minister and any minister of the government will not bind them, and will not change their legal status for them. The government, the prime minister, and any government minister may reject the legal advice if deemed appropriate and act contrary to it." The clause essentially gives the government in power the ability to pick and choose which legal decisions they want to adhere to and which ones they do not.
Most Israelis think Benjamin Netanyahu mishandled the coalition negotiations, the Israel Democracy Institute found in a published poll on Wednesday.
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) January 8, 2023
More than 60% of respondents said that Netanyahu's negotiations were handled "not well" or "terribly"https://t.co/hfJmvblD3s
The proposed legislation is also proving unpopular with much of the electorate. In several polls conducted since the creation of the new government, it seems that the majority disapprove of the direction the coalition is taking the country. This is evident by polls showing that if elections were held today, the Benjamin Netanyahu-led bloc would not receive a majority of votes.
