Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu Pulls an Erdogan in the High Court of Israel and IGNITES a MASSIVE Judicial Review CRISIS! (JULY 2023)
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About this episode
The (Israeli) High Court of Justice faced two unprecedented challenges to Basic Law amendments on Tuesday with a flurry of petitions against one of the most controversial laws in recent memory, the reasonableness bill, and the Attorney-General's Office sanctioning the striking down of the incapacitation law.
While it is not impossible that the High Court may rule to use judicial review, based on the justices' past decisions and the repercussions, it remains unlikely.
The question at hand is what happens when the unstoppable force of judicial review meets the immovable object of the basic laws. The court is being asked to dare answer this question by using judicial review to strike down a matter of a basic law for the first time.
Israel lacks a formal written constitution, but at the dawn of the state adopted a compromise in which the quasi-constitutional Basic Laws would be legislated and then at some indeterminate point assembled into a constitution. A problem with the basic laws is the ease with which they can be introduced and amended. They also originally had no status over regular legislation.
The High Court has the power of judicial review, the ability to strike down legislation that is in contradiction with the founding principles and constitutional framework. This power developed over the decades since the state's founding, but the current version coalesced during the 1990s during the "constitutional revolution."
The current iteration of judicial review was in large part inferred from the introduction of new Basic Laws, Human Dignity and Liberty, and Freedom of Occupation which had provisions that prevented other legislation from contradicting them. This allowed the court to strike down contradictory laws.
Petitioners on Monday and Tuesday challenged the judicial reform bill amending Basic Law: The Judiciary limiting the reasonableness standard, which allowed judicial review of government administrative decisions if they were deemed extremely beyond what a responsible authority would decide.
The petitions argued that the Knesset had violated its constitutional authority - the right to continue the constitutional process by introducing Basic Laws and amendments that established the general constitutional guidelines for the structure of the state and government, powers and relationships between the branches.
The reasonableness standard bill was passed to extract immediate political benefit and was about a specific tool rather than a general rule, petitioners contended.
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Recommended Resources:
Read the full article here: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-752444
The article I originally used for the rather concerning quotation I cited: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/no-such-thing-as-palestinian-people-top-israeli-minister-says
(see: “There is no such thing as a Palestinian nation. There is no Palestinian history. There is no Palestinian language,” -Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich)
Read the other article I briefly mentioned: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/07/25/the-crisis-in-israel-is-just-getting-started-00108040
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Previously Mentioned Segments:
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/getnuanced/episodes/Understanding-the-2021-IsraelPalestine-Crisis-and-its-Broader-Historic-Context-as-of-05-21-21-e1338lv
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/getnuanced/episodes/A-Neo-Ottoman-Foreign-Policy-in-Erdogans-Turkey---Understanding-the-Geopolitical-Situation-in-Northern-Syria-and-Ukraine---JUNE-2022-e1jvtr0/a-a8454hl
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—Tom
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