Israeli politicians react to High Court ruling on reasonableness standard

The High Court struck down the law to cancel the Reasonableness Standard on Monday night, by an 8-7 vote.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel commented, "This is a historic verdict. A government and ministers who sought to exempt themselves from the rule of law - were informed that there are judges in Jerusalem. There is democracy. There is a separation of powers. That the fortress - as former prime minister Menachem Begin called it - is still standing. The Supreme Court determined today that the government and its leader cannot act with extreme unreasonableness. This is a historic day - a tremendous public victory for those who seek democracy!"

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi (Likud) was more critical of the decision. "At the stroke of a sword, the High Court of Justice cut off the branch on which [former chief justice Aharon] Barak's constitutional revolution rested for the past 30 years. The fundamental law of human dignity and freedom and the rulings that relied on it are null and void in their essence, because it was not passed by a special and privileged majority," Karhi said in a statement.

"While we have all chosen to put our differences aside for the moment in order to unite and lead the State of Israel to complete victory over our enemy, the judges of the High Court insist on proving to us once again how disconnected they are from the people and do not represent the majority of them," he added. "The Israeli public deserves a judicial system that sees and feels it, and not one that watches it indifferently and detached from the ivory tower."

Ruling draws variety of responses from Israel's Left and Right

Former justice minister Ayelet Shaked was one of the many notable figures from the Right who criticized the verdict, saying: "Tonight the Supreme Court ruled that it rejects a basic law. The same court that gave the basic laws their constitutional status, the same court that determined that its authority to conduct judicial review was drawn from the basic laws.

"This is a weak ruling from a legal point of view, weak from a regime point of view and against the backdrop of the situation in the country - mostly outrageous. In my opinion, these days when our soldiers are united at the front and expect similar unity at the rear – there was no place for such a hasty publication of such a controversial court ruling."

Also coming out against the verdict was Justice Minister Yariv Levin, one of the chief architects of the government's judicial reform plan, of which the Law to Cancel the Reasonableness Standard was a key part.

"The decision of the judges of the Supreme Court to publish the verdict during wartime is the opposite of the spirit of unity required these days for the success of our fighters at the front," Levin said.

"Through this verdict, the judges are actually taking into their hands all the powers, which in a democratic regime are supposed to be divided in a balanced way between the three authorities... The verdict, which is unparalleled in any Western democracy, will not discourage us. As the campaign continues on various fronts, we will continue to act with restraint and responsibility."

The Shas Party commented: "The precedential ruling of the High Court of Justice rejecting for the first time a basic law of the Knesset, at the tip of a voice, is an unfortunate and difficult event, which continues to erode the principle of separation of powers, damages the position of the Knesset and the belief of the public in the judicial system. Such a ruling in the middle of a difficult war, when the cohesion and unity of the nation is more essential than ever, weakens the war effort and brings back the rift in the nation that we experienced before October 7."

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana (Likud) stated: "It goes without saying that the Supreme Court has no authority to cancel fundamental laws. What is even more obvious is that we cannot engage in this as long as the war is in progress."

Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Ofir Akunis said, "I ask for forgiveness from all our forces for the behavior of the High Court during wartime. Disgrace!"

Former prime minister current opposition leader Yair Lapid praised the ruling, saying: "The High Court's decision seals a difficult year of inner conflict that tore us apart and led to the worst disaster in our history. The source of the strength of the State of Israel, the basis of Israeli strength, is the fact that we are a Jewish, democratic, liberal, law-abiding state.

"Today, the Supreme Court faithfully fulfilled its role in protecting the citizens of Israel, and we give it our full backing. If the Israeli government renews the quarrel over the Supreme Court, then they have learned nothing. They didn't learn anything on October 7; they didn't learn anything from 87 days of war on our home."

Yael Halfon contributed to this report.