Israel's top court rejects key part of Netanyahu's reforms

Israel's Supreme Court on Monday, 1 January struck down a key component of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious judicial overhaul.

In the 8-7 majority decision, the court narrowly voted to overturn a law passed in July that prevents judges from overturning government decisions they deem "unreasonable."

Opponents had argued that Netanyahu's efforts to remove the standard of reasonability would open the door to corruption and questionable government appointments.

Monday's ruling said the amendment to the constitution had deprived the court of the opportunity to take action against "inappropriate" decisions by the government, the prime minister or individual ministers.

The judgment states that the amendment could have "caused serious and unprecedented damage to the core characteristics of the State of Israel as a democratic state."

Government critics hail ruling

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said on social media that "the Supreme Court faithfully fulfilled its role in protecting the citizens of Israel, and we give it our full backing."

Lapid said the ruling "closes a difficult year of strife that has torn us apart from within and led to the worst catastrophe in our history."

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which helped organize protests against Netanyahu's judicial reforms, also called the ruling "a tremendous public victory for those who seek democracy."

"Only an unreasonable government, one that acts unreasonably, that makes unreasonable moves, abolishes the reasonablility standard," the group's chair, Eliad Shraga, said.

Deep divide in Israel

The decision is unprecedented and a major setback for Netanyahu's right-wing government. The country could now face a national crisis if the cabinet refuses to accept the decision.

The amendment, which was first introduced a year ago, faced strong opposition in parliament. Once the negotiations on a compromise failed, Netanyahu opponents launched massive street protests which lasted for months, with hundreds of thousands of people rallying against the plan.

Critics said the amendment was a threat to democracy, while the government argued that they merely wanted to restore balance to a court that was too powerful.

The longstanding controversy was pushed aside after Hamas launched their deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7. The group is labeled as a terrorist organization by the US, EU and several other countries.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who is considered the driving force behind the reform, had asked the court to postpone the judgment until after the end of the ongoing war. 

Following the Monday ruling, Levin lambasted the move, saying it demonstrated "the opposite of the spirit of unity required these days for the success of our soldiers on the front."

He didn't specify if the government would try to revive the amendment despite the court decision, but insisted that the ruling "will not discourage us."