Coalition MK Floats Constitutional Court Above the Supreme Court If Right Wins Again | Israel Politics Post
Coalition MK Floats Constitutional Court Above the Supreme Court If Right Wins Again
Simcha Rothman, the architect of the government's judicial overhaul push, says he's open to creating a new top court the government could staff through its own appointments, stripping the existing Supreme Court of judicial review.
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By Israel Politics Post Staff·Published
MK Simcha Rothman leads a hearing of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee · Source: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90, via The Times of Israel
Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman has floated creating an entirely new constitutional court positioned above Israel's existing Supreme Court if the right wins another term, a body the sitting government could staff largely through its own appointments, The Times of Israel reported.
Rothman, the chief architect of the coalition's judicial overhaul agenda, has argued that the Supreme Court as currently constituted "simply doesn't obey the law." Asked directly about creating a rival top court, he said, "if there is no choice it might be that we need to do it."
The proposal would strip the existing Supreme Court of the power to strike down legislation it finds incompatible with Israel's Basic Laws, a power the court has used 23 times since 1995, transferring that authority instead to the newly created body. Opposition MK Karine Elharrar rejected the premise outright, arguing the real issue isn't the court at all but "a coalition which passes anti-democratic laws."
Several coalition members have voiced support for the idea, though it remains unclear whether Netanyahu himself is willing to back it, given the scale of public opposition such a move would likely provoke.
