Netanyahu Cabinet Approves Ignoring Supreme Court Order on Israel’s Second Broadcasting Authority

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet approved a resolution committing to ignore the Israeli Supreme Court order against allowing its media regulator to convene, a move the New York Post said would pave the way for a constitutional crisis.

The standoff centers on the supreme court’s June 17 ruling that blocked new appointments to Israel’s Second Authority for Television and Radio and restored the previous Second Authority for Television and Radio, despite concerns it had dropped below the legal headcount needed to operate under its quorum.

Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat

The Netanyahu government declared, “You have no power to trample the law. A ruling that contradicts the law will not be recognized, and decisions made under it are void,” while Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi argued, “High Court judges are not the Knesset, and a fit of power does not grant authority to erase an explicit threshold condition from the law, even if it is inconvenient for them.”

The Jerusalem Post reported the government unanimously approved the proposal on Sunday declaring it will not comply with a High Court of Justice ruling regarding the Second Authority Council, describing it as a first that could lead to a constitutional crisis.

The Jerusalem Post added that the government decision on Sunday stated it would not recognize any decision, approval, appointment, or action made by the council while it allegedly fails to meet the statutory threshold.

Opposition leaders denounced the government’s decision not to adhere to a Supreme Court injunction, with the Jerusalem Post saying former prime minister Naftali Bennett warned that refusing to comply “leads to anarchy in the streets and the disintegration of our country.”

The New York Post reported that Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned against defying the country’s highest court, saying, “Statements of noncompliance with Supreme Court rulings harm the core of unity in the people,” and adding, “noncompliance with a court ruling is a red line that must not be crossed under any circumstances.”

DW

In the legal clash, the Jerusalem Post said Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara reportedly told the High Court of Justice that the government’s decision undermined fundamental principles of the rule of law and posed a threat to the justice system.

The Jerusalem Post also described how Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs claimed later in the evening that Karhi and Levin’s statement contained no wording calling for non-compliance, arguing it was “sharp criticism of a ruling that contradicts the explicit language of the law.”

The New York Post said Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Justice Minister Yariv Levin released the formal cabinet resolution to defy the ruling, with Netanyahu’s backing, and argued the high court overstepped its powers and deviated from the letter of the law.

The ynetglobal report said the government’s unprecedented declaration that it would not honor a High Court of Justice ruling on the Second Authority council may not remain isolated, noting that “At least 10 pending petitions on explosive public issues are now before the court.”

ynetglobal described the latest confrontation as beginning after the High Court ordered the Second Authority for Television and Radio council to continue operating with a partial composition, even though the government says the law prevents it from doing so, and said the ruling was issued amid suspicion the council members had resigned deliberately to thwart proceedings.

The report said the question now is whether this was a one-time exceptional event or the beginning of a broader normalization of ignoring High Court decisions, and it added that six laws passed by the Knesset are currently being challenged in petitions seeking to strike them down.

It also said one of the most dramatic is the amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary, with Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit criticizing the law for injecting a political “virus” into the system.

Separately, the New York Post said the looming standoff includes the pending approval of the sale of Reshet 13, one of Israel’s top commercial TV networks, to tech entrepreneurs, placing the media regulator fight alongside a major commercial decision.