The Supreme Court announced on Tuesday evening that it is canceling the hearing scheduled for this coming Thursday regarding the petitions seeking the removal of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. The Court has ordered that the matter be heard by an expanded panel of five justices.
In a decision issued by Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit, Deputy President Noam Sohlberg, and Justice Daphne Barak-Erez, the justices explained that the change follows what they described as "the weightiness of the arguments" and the absence of a substantive response from the Prime Minister to the factual basis presented in the petitions.
The Court noted, "Under these circumstances, and in the absence of a substantive response from the Prime Minister, we see no practical purpose in holding the scheduled hearing."
Consequently, the justices ruled that there is no reason to proceed with the hearing in its current format, directing that the case be heard by an expanded panel of five justices, as requested by Ben Gvir.
The Court further stated that the expanded panel will consider the possibility of issuing a conditional order as early as the beginning of February. A new hearing date will be set by the end of March, and the identities of the panel members will be published according to the Court’s scheduling constraints.
The Supreme Court emphasized that, at this stage, there is no basis for adding the Knesset as a respondent in the proceedings. However, if the Knesset requests to join, its request will be considered.
Associates of Ben Gvir responded, saying: "The fact that the Supreme Court has indicated it may consider issuing a conditional order even without a hearing and without any authority demonstrates that the justices are seeking a constitutional crisis at any cost."