Echoing Justice Minister, Supreme Court President says ‘mortal blow’ to democracy needed to strike Basic Law

“We can’t strike down Basic Laws every other day. There needs to be a mortal blow to the basic tenets of the state as a democratic state.”

By World Israel News Staff

Supreme Court President Esther Hayut said during Tuesday’s historic hearing that there would need to be a “mortal blow” to democracy for her court to justify striking down a Basic Law.

Her remarks were made to Aner Helman, who represented Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara at the hearing, in which all 15 justices heard petitions demanding that the Supreme Court strike down a law limiting its power.  Baharav-Miara was not present at the hearing because she had publicly sided with the petitioners.

Proponents of the judicial reform, including Justice Minister Yariv Levin, argued their case against a petition demanding that the Supreme Court strike down a law limiting its power during a historic hearing on Tuesday morning.

“We can’t strike down Basic Laws every other day. There needs to be a mortal blow to the basic tenets of the state as a democratic state,” Hayut told Helman.

Her remarks, ironically, echoed those made earlier in the day by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, in which he asserted that the the possibility of striking Basic Laws constituted a “fatal injury” to democracy and to the majority’s rule.

Responding to Hayut, Helman said that the reasonableness law under review indeed constituted “a major blow to the rule of law.”

“It’s dramatic,” he said.

Esther HayutIsrael Judicial SystemIsraeli Supreme CourtJudicial reformSupreme CourtYariv Levin