Likud Minister: If High Court cancels judicial reform law, gov’t will respect it

Earlier on Friday, Likud MK Eli Dallal announced that he would only support legislation on which there is a strong consensus.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar (Likud) said that the government would respect any decision made by the High Court, even if it decides to overrule the bill restricting usage of the reasonableness standard, in an interview on Channel 12 news on Friday evening.

Zohar was not the first member of Likud to express a reconciliatory attitude towards opposition to the bill canceling the reasonableness standard.

Earlier on Friday, Likud MK Eli Dallal announced that he would only support legislation on which there is a strong consensus in a tweet.

“This week we marked Tisha Be’av, a week of reflection in which we must learn from the past,” he wrote.
“In hopes of bringing the Jewish People closer together, I announce that I will only support moves that gain a broad national consensus.”

Dallal, who is in his first term as a member of the Knesset, is the first coalition member to publicly commit against supporting the unilateral passing of legislation in the Knesset by the coalition.

In a Friday post to Telegram, Israeli journalist Amit Segal released a video previewing an interview with Likud MK Yuli Edelstein. Edelstein echoed Dallal’s sentiments.

“I know to admit my mistakes. I may have fallen asleep on the watch in terms of what is going to happen,” Edelstein said. “I don’t have a substantial issue with the law that I voted for and supported, but there are lessons to be learned. It’s over, from now on, they will need to tell me everything, from A-Z, which legislation is being drafted, when is it drafted, [and] how it’s worded. They will have to coordinate everything with me.”

In an apparent response to those advocating for consensus for further legislation, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote on his Twitter on Friday, “Maybe there are those that forgot, we didn’t forget, the people chose the (political) Right. Shabbat shalom.”

The Law to Cancel the Reasonableness Clause

On Monday, the coalition passed the first part of Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s judicial reform in the form of the Law to Cancel the Reasonableness Clause in a 64-0 vote. The bill’s passing resulted in widespread demonstrations and criticism, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as “silly” in a US media blitz over the past few days.

During an interview he gave to ABC broadcast on Thursday, the prime minister claimed that the change was “minor.”
“This minor correction is common to all democracies,” Netanyahu said.