Posted on 08/03/23
| News Source: Arutz-7
The Supreme Court on Thursday morning formed a three-judge panel on the petitions to cancel the amendment to the Basic Law, which states that a Prime Minister minister can be declared unable to serve only in a state of physical or mental incapacity.
The petitions were submitted by the Movement for the Quality of Government and the Yisrael Beytenu party.
The hearing was opened by the lawyer Eliad Shraga, the chairman of the movement, who claimed that "Defendant number 2 (Prime Minister Netanyahu) decided to carry out a governmental coup in the State of Israel. He decided to crush the judiciary, he decided to dismantle the rule of the law enforcement system, he decided to dismantle the institution of the Attorney General, he decided to dismantle the prosecutor's office, the police - all the gatekeepers. From the Governor of the Bank of Israel to the Chairman of the Government Companies Authority and turn us into a borderline dictatorial state."
Shraga continued: "Here is an entirely personal event, and the words were clearly said on the record. Just a few hours after the law was passed, Netanyahu already gave a speech and declared that from now on the conflict of interest arrangement does not apply to him, and began to involve himself in the matter of the Supreme Court."
Supreme Court President Ester Hayut wondered why Shraga focused mainly on describing a situation and not on legal arguments. "Sir, do you also want to make a legal argument, or continue to tell about our dire state of affairs?" said Hayut.
Justice Uzi Vogelman said that "the Supreme Court is authorized to conduct judicial review of Basic Laws in an expanded composition."
Attorney Haberman, who represents the Yisrael Beytenu party, said: "We have recently witnessed frequent amendments to the Basic Laws that have become personal. It's not like we're facing a slippery slope, we're going down the slope."
Justice Hayut said that "if there are things that need to be improved, this is not a reason to cancel a Basic Law. It must be connected to the doctrine of extreme remedies for the canceling of a Basic Law."
The Attorney General gave a legal opinion that the law should be invalidated on the grounds that it was intended to improve the legal status of Prime Minister Netanyahu and allow him to avoid respecting the conflict of interest settlement.