SATISH SHARMA - not just Rotigraphy.: What was left of Israeli democracy and judicial independence is now officially over. The Israeli government has announced that it will ignore a Supreme Court ruling,

https://x.com/academic_la/status/2073810305306829184

What was left of Israeli democracy and judicial independence is now officially over. The Israeli government has announced that it will ignore a Supreme Court ruling, essentially trying to end the legal regime of separation of powers that existed since 1948. This is what happened:  

1) In March Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi appointed a new council for the Second Authority, the body that regulates commercial TV and radio. He installed Yifat Ben-Hay Segev as chair, alongside members including Kinneret Barashi and Haim Shine. The appointments were part of his broadcasting reform. Petitioners argued they were political.

2) In May, Justice Alex Stein froze the new council. He barred it from convening or making decisions while the court weighed the petitions against the appointments. This is the pivot. With Karhi's council frozen, the only body legally entitled to function was the previous government's council.

3) Then the previous council's members began resigning. The resignations dropped it below the two-thirds quorum the 1990 Second Authority Law requires. On paper this left the regulator with no functioning council at all. That outcome served Karhi directly. A dead regulator cannot approve the pending sale of Reshet 13 to a group of tech entrepreneurs, a sale Karhi opposes.

4) On June 17 the High Court refused to let the paralysis stand. It froze the government's attempt to change the council's composition. It ruled the resigning members would not count toward quorum, so the previous council could keep operating. 

5) Days before July 5 the coalition refused a different ruling. Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana rejected the court's order to rerun the State Comptroller vote, after ministers were caught photographing their ballots to prove loyalty. Ohana said the Knesset had already spoken. The refusal habit was forming before the cabinet ever voted.

6) On July 5 the cabinet made it official. It voted unanimously to not recognize any decision, appointment, or action of the Second Authority council. Netanyahu backed it, making it the government's position and not just Karhi's and Levin's. 

7) The same day, in the same building, the Constitution Committee advanced the bill to split the attorney general and make her legal opinions non-binding. Deputy AG Gil Limon named the connection out loud. He said once that law passes, the government will overrule any opinion or ruling it dislikes, and the refusal on the Second Authority is a preview of how.

8) It is not coincidence this is happening right before the elections. The government wants to neuter the courts right before the elections so it can override or manipulate the results at will. 

The bottom line is this: the government made a move to limit media independence in Israel. The court made a ruling to protect it. The government announced fully and clearly that it will not obey the court and will seek to destroy the power of the Attorney General that has called to enforce it. This is a constitutional crisis and leading to the end of the regime.