Protestors against the judicial reforms are attempting to “brainwash” Israeli civilians as part of a “campaign against the government,” Finance Minister and Religious Zionist Party chairman Bezalel Smotrich said in a statement on Tuesday, at the start of a “Day of Resistance” against the controversial reasonableness standard bill, which is set to pass into law on Sunday.
“Today, when again you will be brainwashed as part of a campaign against the government, remember to differentiate between many civilians who are concerned, worried, of who, we are aware of their distress and for them we stopped the general process, in order to proceed with very measured steps while calling for broad agreements; and a vocal band that the media blows out of proportion, who does no call for agreements, does not call for dialogue, but rather want to subjugate the 2.4 million voters of the current coalition,” the finance minister said.
“The sane majority wants agreements. The sane majority wants neither side to subjugate the other. Do not enable a minority to play with your minds, no matter what power they hold. Because at the end – we are all brothers, and we all want to live together in peace,” Smotrich said.
The finance minister later wished on Twitter a speedy recovery to the protester who was seriously injured after being hit by a car. However, Smotrich added that his pain was “a private one over physical harm, that joins pain and concern of a large public, to whom we are also attentive.”
Protests outside the rabbinical courts
A number of ultra-Orthodox (haredi) politicians criticized the protests outside of rabbinical courts on Tuesday. Jerusalem and Tradition Minister Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) said, “The left-wing protests are again crossing a line and are marking and hunting anything with a spark of Judaism, with no connection to the judicial reform. I again call on the Left and its leaders, stop the incitement before it is too late.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on June 18, 2023. (credit: AMIT SHABI/POOL)Religious Affairs Minister Michael Malkieli (Shas) also expressed his concern for the well-being of the religious judges and workers at the religious courts.
However, Labor Party leader MK Merav Michaeli expressed her support for the protests outside the religious courts.
“Do the rabbinical judges feel under siege when protesters block their entrance for half an hour? Now try to imagine how a woman feels when you block her freedom for years,” Michaeli said, referring to the fact that marital law in Israel follows Jewish law, which allows a husband to divorce a wife but not vice versa.
The “reasonableness standard bill” is an amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary, that would block Israel’s courts from applying what is known as the “reasonableness standard” to decisions made by elected officials. The reasonableness standard is a common law doctrine that allows for judicial review against government administrative decisions that are deemed beyond the scope of what a responsible and reasonable authority would undertake.
Proponents of the law argue that it is a highly subjective tool for judicial activism that allows the court to subvert government policy with its own views. Critics, including the attorney general, argue that the tool is essential to counter corruption and to ensure the protection of individuals from arbitrary and capricious government decisions.
The court used the reasonableness standard, for example, when it ruled in January that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to appoint Shas chairman Aryeh Deri to two ministerial positions, despite three criminal convictions on white-collar crime committed while in power, suffered from “extreme unreasonableness.” Netanyahu was forced to fire Deri. Should the reasonableness standard bill pass into law, the prime minister may attempt to reappoint Deri to his former positions of Health Minister and Interior Minister.
Michael Starr contributed to this report
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