MK Esterina Tratman
High Court. Under fire
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Knesset vs. High Court? The High Court ruling that
broadens State responsibility for damages caused by IDF operations in the territories led to simultaneous legislation Wednesday initiated by Israel Our Home Member of Knesset Esterina Tratman to constrain the legal institution.
The High Court's Tuesday decision provoked harsh criticism from the political establishment and MK Benyamin Elon called the High Court "an existential problem."
Tratman submitted a proposal aimed at preventing the courts from nullifying Knesset laws.
High Court
Attila Somfalvi
Left welcomes High Court ruling on Palestinian compensation, right winged MKs criticize ruling. MK Hendel says ‘Palestinian citizens are not innocent as long as they are sheltering the murderers and cooperating with them’
Most of the MKs who spoke avoided taking practical steps against the High Court. However, MK Tratman decided that getting angry and simply putting out press releases isn’t enough, and she submitted a proposal meant to forbid the High Court from nullifying Knesset laws.
The bill, in essence, is aimed at changing an article in the law of the courts and to unequivocally establish: The only body capable of changing the law will be the Knesset, canceling the courts' right of judicial review.
"There is no doubt that the trigger for this bill was Tuesday's decision," explains Tratman in a conversation with Ynet. She didn't hide her anger at the country's senior-most legal authorities: "What the High Court is doing today is criminal."
The amendment nullified Tuesday by the High Court was the sixth time such an action was taken since the founding of the State.
However, according to Tratman, "No one dared oppose the Court in the past. It is a holy cow. The role of the judicial authorities is to rule how to interpret a law, and not to nullify them. A perplexing situation has been created that is unacceptable. Especially the High Court, which is meant to be the most fair authority in the State of Israel, is taking action against law and against democracy."
MK Tratman elaborated why she thinks the High Court is violating the law and democratic principles: "In the Knesset sit 120 members of Knesset who were elected by the public. This is democracy. Then, along come nine people, who don’t represent the entire public, and impose their opinion and interpretation and cancel out the opinion of the majority. This is breaking the law."