Thousands of demonstrators came this evening (Monday) to protest in front of the Supreme Court in Jerusalem ahead of tomorrow's hearing on the petitions filed against the law to reduce the reasonablity standard. Due to the demonstration, Begin Road was blocked to traffic.
During the protest, demonstrators clashed with police officers who demanded that they not violate the public order.
A number of protesters lit flares against the law. One woman was arrested on suspicion of lighting a flare. More flares were seized by officers at the scene.
Dozens of protesters broke onto the Begin road and blocked traffic for a short time. Police forces responded quickly and worked to evacuate the road within a few minutes and the road was fully reopened.
The Chairman of the Constitutional Committee, MK Simcha Rotman, delivered yesterday (Sunday) to the Supreme Court, through his lawyer Avi Segal, his answer regarding the petitions to cancel the Law on Reducing the reasonability standard.
Rothman opened his answer by stating that "the honorable court lacks the authority to conduct a judicial review of basic laws."
"The place to conduct the debate on the plan to amend the legal system as a whole is the Knesset and the Constitution Committee of the Knesset," he noted.
He added that "Indeed, the president of the Supreme Court, the administration of the courts, and previous presidents of the Supreme Court, were invited to give their position before the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and for their own reasons chose not to do so. It seems, therefore, that the doctrine of silence can be applied in this matter".
In addition, the chairman of the Law and Justice Committee requested to emphasize and mention the content of the declaration of allegiance of the judges of Israel.
"Since it is undisputed that the honorable court lacks any authority in the law or in the basic law to conduct a judicial review of a basic law (not to mention its disqualification), then any such review would contradict the above statement," Rothman concluded.