Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked rejected reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has not been briefed on a plan to rein in judicial activist by the Supreme Court, one which would involve amending Israel’s Basic Law to limit the court’s ability to strike down legislation via judicial review.
In an interview with Mendy Rizel on Radio 101.5, Shaked said she has discussed the matter with the Prime Minister in the past and will work out the details with him in the near future.
"I sat with Netanyahu in the past on this law, and we need to meet again to discuss the details; I'm sure the Prime Minister will support this.”
"Under the proposed law, the Supreme Court will be able to annul laws, but the Knesset will be able to overrule Supreme Court annulments if it sees fit; just not with every law. Besides this, the law would also clarify the legislative process, because today there is no such law," she explained, noting that at present Israel lacks an explicit framework laying out the requirements for passing legislation, including proposed Basic Laws.
According to the Justice Minister, reports that Netanyahu was unaware of the plan are entirely politically motivated.
“There are elements in the Likud who bear a grudge – to put it mildly – that’s why they’re putting these rumors out there.”
"I spoke with Yisrael Beytenu, I also spoke with some of the haredi Knesset members and with Likud ministers; we will sit with the Kulanu faction and I want to believe that we will reach a consensus," she stressed.
Minister Shaked explained the need for the new plan she formulated with Minister Naftali Bennett. "The court has taken over the authority to annul laws; I know the judges, they are independent, they are practical, this is their opinion, they really judge according to their personal opinion, politics is not involved in court. I can say that wholeheartedly.
"It will be said to the Prime Minister's credit that he does not interfere in the affairs of my office," she said. "I have been working for two-and-a-half years very hard in everything related to my initiative and to this day, except for one initiative that the Prime Minister stopped, which was cancelling a selection committee of the Attorney General's choice, he did not stop my initiatives."