Connect with us

RSS

In unprecedented decision, Israel’s Supreme Court strikes down law limiting its power

(JTA) — The Israeli Supreme Court has struck down a law that limited its power, an unprecedented decision nixing the one piece of legislation passed under the right-wing government’s effort to weaken the judiciary.

The 8-7 decision published on Monday returns the fight over Israel’s court system to the fore after a months-long pause due to Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. Prior to Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel, debate over the government’s judicial overhaul had riven the country, leading to massive protests and civil disobedience over what opponents said was a bid to undermine Israeli democracy.

Amid that civil strife, the government passed a law in July removing the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down government decisions it deems “unreasonable,” a power used in the past as a check on executive power. The law was an amendment to one of Israel’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws, and it passed without any votes from the opposition. The court heard challenges to it later in the year.

Monday’s decision marks the first time for the court ever to strike down a Basic Law. While the specific law was struck down by a narrow majority, 13 of 15 justices wrote that the court does possess the authority to strike down Basic Laws. In the decision, former Chief Justice Esther Hayut wrote that the law was “extreme and irregular” and said it “departs from the foundational authorities of the Knesset, and therefore it must be struck down.”

The decision moves Israel closer to a potential constitutional crisis, a scenario in which a country experiences an unsolvable dispute between two branches of government, at a delicate moment. Ahead of the court decision, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not said explicitly that his government would obey a court ruling striking down the law.

Ministers in his government immediately criticized the decision, as well as the court’s decision to publish it during wartime. Netanyahu’s Likud Party called the decision “unfortunate” and said the court should not have ruled on an issue “at the heart of the societal disagreement in Israel when IDF soldiers from right and left are fighting and endangering their lives,” according to the Times of Israel.

“The decision of the Supreme Court judges to publish the court decision during wartime is the opposite of the spirit of unity needed these days for the success of our soldiers on the front,” wrote Justice Minister Yariv Levin, an architect of the judicial overhaul effort, on Facebook. “In practice, the judges have taken all of the authorities, which in a democratic regime are split in a balanced way between three branches of government.”

Israeli politicians on the center and left celebrated the decision. Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition, wrote on X, “The source of the state of Israel’s strength, the basis of Israeli power, is the fact that we are a Jewish, democratic, liberal, law-abiding state. The Supreme Court faithfully performed its duty today to protect Israel’s citizens.”

On X, Benny Gantz, the leader of the centrist National Unity Party and a member of an emergency war cabinet, wrote that “the court decision must be respected.”


The post In unprecedented decision, Israel’s Supreme Court strikes down law limiting its power appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Continue Reading

RSS

Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.

The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.

They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.

Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.

Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.

Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.

The post Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.

The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.

Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.

He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.

The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.

Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.

Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.

Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.

Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.

The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News