Abstract

On 4 January 2023, the Minister of Justice of the Government led by Prime Minister Netanyahu announced a legislative reform aimed to affect the judicial system. The proposed changes were set to achieve four main targets: to limit the ability of the High Court of Justice to declare laws enacted by the Knesset unconstitutional for violation of Basic Laws; to change the process of selecting judges by giving the Government a power of control over the Selection Committee; to prevent the Supreme Court from using the yardstick of ‘reasonableness’ to judge laws and provisions enacted by the executive; to allow ministers to appoint their own legal advisors directly, instead of using advisors operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice. Following the presentation of the bill, Israel went through the most serious constitutional crisis in its history, and unprecedented protests broke out in the country from almost all segments of civil society, academia and the business sector. The contribution explores whether the proposed reform incorporates a legitimate paradigm shift intended to ‘strengthen democracy, rehabilitate governance and restore trust in the judiciary’ or whether, on the contrary, it amounts to a political coup d’état that disrupts the democratic structure of the State, handing over almost absolute powers to the Government.