Netanyahu Implies He Will Not Accept Israeli Supreme Court's Repeal of Judicial Reform

TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - Benjamin Netanyahu gave a tacit support to parliamentary speaker Amir Ohana's warning to the country's Supreme Court against interfering with Israel's fundamental laws, in an indication that he would not accept a possible court ruling to repeal one of the clauses of the controversial judicial reform during a hearing next week.

On Wednesday, Ohana said that the Supreme Court should recognize "the limits of its power" as "in a democracy, none of the branches of government can be omnipotent." Speaking to Supreme Court judges ahead of the first hearing on a possible repeal of one of the judicial reform clauses, Ohana said that such a development would "plunge us into an abyss." The parliament will not accept being trampled on, he added.

On Thursday, Netanyahu posted a video of Ohana's address on his X account. Over the past few weeks, the Israeli prime minister has been dodging the question whether he would accept a possible ruling by the Supreme Court repealing one of the key clauses of his judicial reform, against which the Israeli people have been protesting since the beginning of the year.

On September 12, the Israeli Supreme Court will start considering petitions against the reform approved by the Israeli parliament in July, which limits the power of the court to overturn government decisions by declaring them unreasonable. The reform was approved under the oppositions boycott and amid months-long nationwide protests.

The supporters of the reform claim that it is a necessary step to enable a democratically elected government to pursue policies to the benefit of the majority of the Israeli citizens. Their opponents argue that it would make it harder for the Supreme Court to intervene when elected officials make arbitrary, extreme or corrupt decisions.