Justice Sohlberg annoyed at Edelstein, signs order mid-Shin Bet hearing
The fact that Sohlberg's decision was issued while he was still at the Shin Bet hearing - and did not wait until later in the day - would appear to show how serious he views the situation as being.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBThe High Court of Justice during a hearing(photo credit: ALEX KOLOMOISKY / POOL)
High Court Justice Noam Sohlberg appears to be so perturbed by Yuli Edelstein's halting Knesset business that he entered an interim order pressuring the Knesset Speaker mid-hearing of another high-profile case.Only hours earlier on Thursday, the Movement for the Quality of Government in Israel had filed a petition to get the High Court co compel Edelstein to open the Knesset to votes relating to its committees and operations after he said he would not allow them.Sohlberg's order says that Edelstein must explain himself in writing by Sunday at 10:00 a.m., that a hearing is set for Sunday at 4:00 p.m. and recommends both sides agree to an interim conditional order by the court cutting through procedural niceties so that the court can rule almost immediately. Around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Justice Sohlberg was sitting on a panel of justices hearing a petition to freeze Shin Bet surveillance of coronavirus infected citizens.During the hearing it is believed that a staff member came to Sohlberg to sign the order regarding Edelstein and that he signed while the arguments were ongoing on the Shin Bet issue.The fact that Sohlberg's decision was issued while he was still at the Shin Bet hearing - and did not wait until later in the day - would appear to show how serious he views the situation as being.Edelstein has said that Likud and Blue and White should negotiate through their differences and will not allow votes which he views as dividing the country (including a vote to replace him as speaker.)Meanwhile, Blue and White has threatened to file its own petition on the issue since Wednesday but still has not done so.There is speculation that Blue and White may prefer a national unity deal with Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over using the Knesset to pass laws against him.
