A number of incidents this week indicated the unprecedented levels of government enmity toward the judicial system, in general, and law enforcement, in particular.
The first was Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s announcement on Monday that he will not adhere to a High Court of Justice ruling. The High Court extended the tenure of two members of the governing council of the Public Broadcasting Corporation, known as KAN, overruling Karhi’s decision not to extend their tenure.
Karhi is pursuing a policy to negate KAN’s independence by either privatizing it or preventing it from functioning properly.
Karhi’s decision would have paralyzed the council, as it would have lowered the number of members from seven to five, beneath the minimum number necessary to convene.
Karhi said he “determined” that the High Court ruling was “unconstitutional” and given “without authority” and was therefore void. The communications minister also said he would disregard an ensuing requirement to appoint an interim chairman for the council.
The second incident was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ignoring of an opinion by Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and appointing a person the A-G deemed was “not even close” to being qualified to the influential position of Civil Service Commissioner, who supervises all civil servants.
Netanyahu’s move joined a long list of decisions ignoring the opinion of the A-G, even though, according to many High Court rulings, her opinion is legally binding.
Netanyahu’s ignoring of Baharav-Miara this week was more blatant than usual, however, since it had to do with an appointment to an influential position; it was a decision by Netanyahu himself, not one of his ministers or the government as a whole; and Netanyahu said clearly that he had “consulted with the A-G” and “did not accept her recommendation” – an official indication that he viewed her opinions as optional, seemingly in violation of the High Court’s rulings.
The third incident was Likud MK Tally Gotliv’s refusal to appear for police interrogation for divulging classified information that the husband of protest leader Prof. Shikma Bressler was a security official in the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). Gotliv has argued that she is immune from interrogation since her comments were made within the capacity of her job as a parliamentarian.
Deputy State Attorney Alon Altman explained in a letter to Gotliv on Sunday that MKs were not immune from criminal interrogations. However, Gotliv refused another summons after receiving the letter and even wrote on X/Twitter that she had “recommended” to the police that it “cease contacting me since I do not intend to report [for the interrogation].”
Trend of government disregard for law, legal norms
These incidents join a worrying trend of government disregard for the law and legal norms.
For example, the government ignored guidelines laid out in a Basic Law regarding the timetable for the legislation of the state budget.
Additionally, the Knesset Finance Committee – led by MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) – approved budget transfers worth nearly NIS 5 billion within the 2024 state budget prior to its expiration on December 31. The Knesset legal adviser said this move was “unprecedented” and did not enable MKs enough time to understand what they were voting on.
Furthermore, Justice Minister Yariv Levin has yet to adhere to a High Court ruling requiring him to appoint a permanent Chief Justice. These are just the tip of the iceberg.
Many parties within the coalition campaigned for improved governance (meshilut) and framed their 2023 judicial reforms as strengthening democracy. However, the government is increasingly disregarding a central tenet of governance and democracy – adherence to the law.