Knesset approved in first reading cancellation of the cause of reasonableness by the high court

The Knesset plenum approved tonight (between Monday and Tuesday) in the first reading of the cancellation of the cause of reasonableness. The vote passed with a majority of 64 members of the Knesset against 56 who opposed. The discussion was held against the background of President Yitzhak Herzog's call last night to return to the talks on the grounds that the agreement on the issue is "achievable" and the "day of disruption" expected today.
The bill to abolish the reason for reasonableness states that the court will not be able to express judicial criticism using the reason for reasonableness on decisions of the government and elected officials. The Constitution Committee intends to meet later today to discuss the advancement of the legislation and the preparation of the proposal for a second and third reading.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who concluded the five-hour debate, claimed that the law "returns Israel to the ranks of democratic nations - and aligns with what is customary in the entire democratic world." According to him, "The government is not above the law, it must act only within the law, in due process without conflict of interest. Any action that is not done in this way - every action - has been and will continue to be subject to full judicial review." Levin added: "A situation in which judges - or any other non-elected entity - come instead of the government and say, 'True, the action is legal and within the government's authority,' but despite this - in which 3 judges say, 'We, according to our personal view, think this is unlikely' - and teachers To do so is an unacceptable situation."
Levin read statements from the past by MK Ze'ev Elkin and MK Gideon Sa'ar about the reason for reasonableness and asked: "To what extent is it possible in the name of opposition to Netanyahu to enslave everything? The opposition wants the judges to decide what is reasonable instead of the people." He later added that "the court has and will continue to have all the necessary tools to cancel a decision or an appointment that was made in violation of the law. Is this the end of democracy? Is there justification to call for refusals?"
Levin said that the coalition responded to the "absurd demand" of the opposition, but the opposition "blasted them for no reason", in his words. Levin noted that "my door was and remains and will always be open to any member of the opposition - from all factions. Anyone who really wants to reach a settlement - is welcome." When called by the chairman of the opposition to return to the president's house, Levin replied: "Come to me." We don't need middlemen. worth trying. No need to stop anything. The first reading will pass." Lapid himself told Levin that if he had stopped the legislation - he would have come.
The discussion opened with the words of the Chairman of the Constitution Committee, Simcha Rothman, who presented the proposal. "It is balanced, responsible and significantly different from what might have been enacted," Rothman claimed. Darkness, believe it or not, the sun shone every morning."
The head of the opposition Yair Lapid responded from a stage in the Knesset to Rotman's words. "Tell the truth - this is a law that says it will be possible to appoint a convicted criminal as a minister, that it will be possible to issue prison terms to anyone who opposes this government, and that it will be possible to fire the ombudsman," said Lapid. "Who are you working for? What does this have to do with the livelihood of the citizens of Israel, their security and our relations with the world that you are destroying? You stood here on the podium and swore to protect the people of Israel, and today you are breaking this whole thing. It will not happen. If it passes on the first reading, it will fail on the second-third. If it doesn't fall there - it will fall in the Supreme Court. These people are destroying the Israeli alliance for petty reasons, for reasons of the corrupt and corrupters."
After Lapid's speech, an exchange was recorded between him and Communications Minister Shlomo Karai, when, among other things, the head of the opposition told him: "You are all poison, you are a mass of poison among the people of Israel."
The chairman of the state camp, Benny Gantz, came up to speak after Lapid, and said: "In one country, the rulers decided to change the rules - the Tiberias Law, the Chief Rabbinate Law, the Bar Council Law. Who will guarantee us in the future that the Knesset election laws will not be changed? Who guarantees us that the ombudsman will not be dismissed? Who guarantees us that an incompetent chief of staff who is close to the prime minister or the defense minister will not be elected? Don't say 'it won't happen to me', don't say 'it's just a possibility'. Next in line will be an increase, there will be the appointment of political judges, there will be political ombudsmen. The snowball that is starting to roll will grow, gain momentum and trample the entire country if we don't stop it now.
Israel Beitenu chairman Avigdor Lieberman said that the law that was approved in the first reading is "unreasonable and constitutes a serious damage to democracy." According to him, "the law is intended to bring back Aryeh Deri and stabilize the coalition for a long period It is clear that the reason for reasonableness is only one step in Netanyahu's salami method."
The coalition intends to finalize within two weeks the legislation to amend the Basic Law: the Judiciary to reduce the cause of reasonableness. After the proposal, which will result in the court not being able to express judicial criticism through the grounds of reasonableness on the decisions of the government and elected officials, was passed in the first reading, it will return today to discussions in the Constitution Committee in preparation for a second and third reading. After a limited number of discussions, the bill is expected to undergo some softening and go up for a vote in the Constitution Committee towards the end of next week, and on the following Sunday it will be put to a second and third reading vote in the plenary.
This is the only bill that the coalition is expected to succeed in enacting as part of the legal reform in the current session, but after the vote in the second and third readings on amending the Basic Law: The Judiciary was postponed at the last minute in favor of the talks at the President's House, coalition officials fear that this will happen this time as well. Justice Minister Yariv Levin, for his part, prefers not to give in to the noise of the demonstrations and after the reason of reasonableness intends to focus on the next legislative steps - changing the composition of the committee for the selection of judges, apparently in a version of half members of the committee from the opposition and half from the Koel
Later this week, on Wednesday starting at 11:30, the election of Knesset representatives for judicial positions, for the committee to select judges, judges and cadets, will take place in the Knesset Plenum by secret ballot. As I recall, this is the election that will be held for the second time after the exercise that the coalition did last time, when MK Karin Elharer (Yesh Atid) was elected following the defection of Knesset members from Likud. Knesset members Yitzhak Kreuzer (Otzma Yehudit) and Moshe Solomon (Religious Zionism) submitted their candidacies. The opposition also submitted candidates on their behalf, with the aim of preventing another postponement of the committee's convening.
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