Five former chief justices of Israel’s Supreme Court issued an extraordinary public warning Monday after the government declared it would not honor a High Court of Justice order concerning the Second Authority for Television and Radio, saying refusal to obey court rulings would mark “the final nail in the coffin of democracy.”
The statement was signed by retired chief justices Aharon Barak, Dorit Beinisch, Asher Grunis and Esther Hayut, as well as retired acting chief justice Uzi Vogelman. It followed Sunday’s cabinet decision declaring that the government would not recognize actions taken by the current Second Authority council, the regulator responsible for Israel’s commercial television and radio broadcasters, despite an interim High Court order allowing it to continue operating until a final ruling is issued.
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Former chief justices Aharon Barak, Dorit Beinisch, Asher Grunis, Esther Hayut, Uzi Vogelman
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky, Judicial Authority website, Oriya Tadmor, Gabriel Baharlia, Nahum Segal)
“In light of the decision made yesterday by the Israeli government regarding the Second Authority council, we warn of the unprecedented gravity of this decision, whose clear meaning is a call by the government not to respect and not to obey court orders,” the former chief justices wrote. “Failure to obey court orders and decisions is the final nail in the coffin of democracy.”
The government’s move has escalated a dispute over the media regulator into a direct confrontation between the cabinet and the High Court over whether the executive branch is bound by court orders. In its official statement Sunday, the government said the court had no authority to override the law: “A ruling that contradicts the law will not be recognized, and decisions made under it are void.”
The cabinet effectively approved a proposal by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, stating that the government would not recognize any decision, approval, appointment or action taken by the Second Authority council as long as, in the government’s view, the council does not meet the quorum requirements set by law. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed the decision in the cabinet vote, making it the official position of the government he leads.
Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhyahu
(Photo: Reuters/Ronen Zvulun, Alex Kolomoisky, Shutterstock/7th Sun, Reuters, Hadar Yoavian, AFP, AP, Haim Goldberg/Flash90)
The former chief justices said the decision “completely disrupts the order of government and law in the state,” warning that it would lead to “anarchy” and concentrate “all governing powers in the hands of one body only.” They called on the government to state that court rulings and decisions must be obeyed.
The High Court order at the center of the dispute was issued on June 17 by Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit and Justices Alex Stein and Ruth Ronen. It froze government decisions from March 24 and March 31 that approved the appointment of Dr. Yifat Ben-Chai Segev as chairwoman of a new Second Authority council, along with other council members, and ordered the outgoing council to continue operating until a final ruling.
The petitions against the appointments were filed by the Union of Journalists in Israel, Channel 12 News, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, the Israel Press Council and an association dedicated to preserving legal values. The petitioners argued that the appointments were flawed by a rushed process, incomplete factual groundwork, concerns over conflicts of interest, political ties, possible bias toward regulated media outlets and insufficient representation for Israel’s Arab population.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara effectively supported many of the petitioners’ claims in the state’s response to the court, saying the government decisions contained “flaws that go to the root of the process.” The most unusual part of the interim ruling concerned the resignation of several members of the outgoing council, which the justices said raised a “heavy suspicion” of an attempt to thwart earlier court decisions and paralyze the council’s work.
Karhi criticized the High Court in sharp terms, saying “the rule of law is not the rule of judges” and that “a council that does not meet the threshold set by the legislature does not exist. Its decisions are worth nothing.” Levin said the court was required to apply the law, not issue rulings that, in his view, contradict it.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Justice Minister Yariv Levin
(Photo: Knesset)
The legal establishment strongly opposed the move. Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon warned during the cabinet meeting that the proposal effectively meant the government would ignore a High Court order, saying the result would be “to normalize systematic violation of the law.”
The Union of Journalists in Israel also denounced the decision, saying it was aimed at blocking the sale of Reshet 13 to a group of high-tech entrepreneurs and amounted to an unprecedented assault on the Supreme Court. “The government of Israel is dismantling the media and democracy,” the union said.
The decision came days after another clash between Netanyahu’s coalition and the judiciary, when the High Court voided the election of Netanyahu’s former attorney Michael Rabello as state comptroller. Opposition leaders accused the government of trying to normalize defiance of the judiciary, with former prime minister Naftali Bennett warning that “disobedience to a court ruling brings anarchy to the streets and the dismantling of our state.”
In practical terms, the government’s declaration may have limited immediate effect because decisions by the Second Authority council are not necessarily implemented directly by the cabinet. Its broader significance, however, lies in the government’s formal statement that it will not respect a High Court order, turning the case into a test of whether court rulings remain binding on the government.