Israel Plunges Toward Constitutional Crisis as Cabinet Rejects Court Ruling

Cabinet says it will not recognize decisions by media regulator after court allowed council to resume operations despite quorum dispute

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel’s government unanimously declared Sunday that it would not recognize decisions made under a High Court of Justice ruling involving the country’s commercial broadcast regulator, an extraordinary step that opponents warned could push Israel into one of the gravest constitutional confrontations in its history.

The dispute centers on the Second Authority for Television and Radio, the public body that regulates Israel’s commercial television and radio broadcasters. The High Court ruled in June that the authority’s outgoing council could resume operations despite falling below the statutory two-thirds quorum, after several council members resigned amid a legal battle over government appointments.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who brought the proposal to the cabinet, said the government would not recognize any decision, approval, appointment, or action taken by the council while it does not meet what they describe as the explicit minimum requirements established by law.

“The rule of law is not the rule of judges,” Karhi said, accusing the High Court of overriding the plain language of the law. “When the High Court tramples the law, the state will not cooperate.”

Levin framed the cabinet’s decision as a defense of separation of powers, arguing that in a democratic state the Knesset legislates and the court must apply the law rather than rewrite it. “When a ruling stands in direct contradiction to the wording of the law, this is not judicial review but rather a violation of the principle of the separation of powers,” he said.

The High Court’s intervention followed petitions by groups including the Union of Journalists in Israel and the Movement for Quality Government, which challenged government appointments to the Second Authority council. Petitioners alleged that Karhi and the government were attempting to assert political control over the regulator, particularly amid a proposed acquisition of Channel 13 by a group of high-tech entrepreneurs reportedly headed by a prominent critic of the government.

The court had previously frozen the new council’s activities and later ruled that the resignations of several members should not prevent the outgoing council from functioning. In its June ruling, the court said filings by Karhi and resigning council members raised “serious suspicion” that the resignations were intended to thwart earlier court decisions and interfere with judicial review.

The government rejects that interpretation, arguing that the law requires at least two-thirds of the 15-member council to serve for the body to have legal authority. Karhi said the court’s decision effectively permitted a council with fewer than the legally required number of members to act as if it were validly constituted.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara reportedly warned the High Court that the government’s decision undermines fundamental principles of the rule of law and threatens the justice system. President Isaac Herzog also warned that refusing to comply with court rulings crosses a “red line.”

Opposition leaders sharply denounced the cabinet’s move. Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said a government that refuses to accept High Court rulings becomes unlawful, while former prime minister Naftali Bennett called the declaration a “severe and dangerous breach of trust.” Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot accused the government of “raising a hand against Israeli democracy,” and Yisrael Beytenu lawmaker Oded Forer warned that if ministers can ignore court rulings, citizens may question why they must obey the law.

Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs later attempted to soften the matter, saying the cabinet statement did not explicitly call for non-compliance with the High Court ruling but rather criticized a ruling the government believes contradicts the law. Still, the government’s declaration that it will not recognize council decisions places the executive branch on a direct collision course with the judiciary.

The confrontation comes amid a broader and long-running struggle between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition and Israel’s legal establishment. Levin has been one of the central architects of the government’s judicial reform agenda, while Karhi has advanced controversial communications reforms aimed at restructuring the country’s broadcast oversight system and reducing the independence of public broadcasting.

While Israel is fighting a war on multiple fronts, the Jewish state now faces a deepening constitutional crisis at home as elections loom — raising urgent questions over the balance of power between the government, the courts, and the rule of law itself.

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