MADRID, Jan. 5 (.) –
Israel’s new justice minister, Yariv Levin, has announced a reform of the country’s judicial system, which would limit the power of the Supreme Court.
The changes proposed by the head of the Justice portfolio, in the event that they are approved by the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), would give the government control over the judicial selection committee and limit the authority of legal advisers, as reported by the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’.
Levin, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party, believes that judicial activism has destroyed trust in the justice system, which is why governments cannot govern effectively.
Thus, the minister has maintained that the objective is to “strengthen democracy, rehabilitate governance, restore faith in the judicial system and rebalance the three branches of government.”
This proposal has provoked criticism from the opposition, which has spoken out against and condemned the measure, considering it a “political coup”.
The former prime minister and current head of the opposition Yair Lapid has assured that this proposal “is not a legal reform”, but “a threatening letter”. “They are threatening to destroy the entire constitutional structure of the State of Israel”, he has denounced, branding the new government “as a gang of criminals”.
