MK Bezalel Smotrich, chairman of the National Union and a senior member of the United Right list, established the passage of the "Override Clause" as a condition for entering the next coalition.
The amendment proposed by Smotrich to Israel's Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty would allow the Knesset to reenact laws rejected by the Supreme Court, subject to the approval of a Knesset majority of 61 out of the 120 MKs.
In an interview Tuesday with "Kalman Lieberman" on Reshet Bet, Smotrich presented demands for portfolios in the next government. "We are talking about the education portfolio and the justice portfolio. This is what we want to demand, and we will insist on it and receive it.”
He praised Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, but said that "Ayelet operated only within the existing parameters, [but] did not confront [Former Supreme Court Chief Justice] Miriam Naor, [State Attorney] Nitzan and [Attorney General] Mandelblit. We will make a dramatic change. We will want a breakthrough in a number of legal areas.”
"The High Court adopts an ideological political position, and we want to change that. The Override Clause is only one of the tools we are working on.”
“We will not enter the government without the enactment of the Override Clause within 60 days of the establishment of the government," stressed the chairman of the National Union.
"The law will be enacted such that the Knesset can override the court with a regular majority [61 MKs]. This is democratic - there is no democratic reason to seek a special majority. Netanyahu knows about this. Netanyahu wants a government. He wants to establish a right-wing government - and to fulfill the promise to his voters, he will have pass the law. Otherwise, he doesn’t have a government.”