MK Yitzik Kroizer (Otzma Yehudit) has told Israel National News - Arutz Sheva that there is no reason to get excited by the reduction of the reasonability standard, since this is a "normal act in a democratic country."
The reasonableness standard bill is an amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary, and limits the ability of the court to rule against the validity of elected official's decisions that in a justice's subjective opinion are beyond the scope of what a reasonable authority would undertake. The reasonable standard had no legal basis in Israeli law but the bill to limit it is to be part of a Basic Law. It passed its first Knesset reading earlier this month and has now passed its second and third readings.
"Today we did a completely normal democratic process here," Kroizer told Israel National News. "We have here an elected government which fulfilled its commitment to the public to correct and balance the three authorities. We bring a bit of good news within the list of issues which needs to be fixed, in our opinion and in the opinion of most of the nation of Israel. Outside there was a completely legitimate protest by people who are afraid of this change or that. This is what democratic rule looks like."
Kroizer also said that the opposition foiled any option to reach a real compromise: "We had here a very long process and there was a lot of time to reach agreements. We took the previous break in order to reach understandings, and we went to the President's Residence. Unfortunately, Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, instead of being leaders to the public which chose them, were dragged after a small and dangerous handful who attempted to bring the army and reserves into the equation, and who are still trying to create chaos and a presentation of anarchy."
"There will not be anarchy here. There is a government, a strong army, and a healthy nation which knows what it wants and what is good for it, and therefore it chose a right-wing government," he stressed.
At the same time, Kroizer did not rule out the possibility of reaching agreements and compromises regarding the rest of the judicial reform.
"Now we are going on a break, during which it will be possible to sit and discuss the rest of the sections and try to reach broad agreements," he said. "At the same time, if we do not reach broad agreements, we will continue legislating the other sections of the reform."