Attempts by Israeli leaders to temper the schism erupting between the High Court and Cabinet are failing as the judges warn that officials could face legal repercussions if they do not follow orders.
The High Court of Justice issued a decision on Tuesday reasserting that the government must comply with orders to restart operations of the Second Authority for Television and Radio, its federal communications regulatory body, or else risk waiving their personal immunity and opening themselves up to future civil damages suits.
“The actions of public servants in violation of judicial decisions may lead, in appropriate cases, to the fact that the personal immunity arrangement granted against tort claims will not apply,” the court said in the Tuesday decision.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet publicly commented on the matter, but the decision to disregard the court was unanimous among his Cabinet and his ministers have become belligerent in their opposition to the rulings.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin decried the Supreme Court as a “gang of dictators,” and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich lambasted them as a “judicial mafia” making explicit threats to enforce decisions the government has found unconstitutional.
“This is exactly what a threatening message from a protection racket sounds like,” said Smotrich. “What’s next? Envelopes with bullets sent to government ministries? A horse’s head in their beds? Bottles of gasoline left on the cars of elected officials?”
The source of unrest is the High Court’s order for the communications regulatory authority to resume operations despite a lack of quorum. Multiple members resigned in recent months in order to force the government body to pause, preventing the sale of outlet Channel 13 to a group of entrepreneurs hostile to the incumbent government.
The High Court ordered in June that the council resume operations despite the legally insufficient number of members. But Cabinet members voted unanimously over the weekend to reject any decisions made by the council until it meets the proper head count — claiming that the lack of quorum prevented the legitimate exercise of power.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has positioned himself as perhaps the chief opponent of the High Court, routinely invoking biblical language and bellicose rhetoric against the judicial body and characterizing them as tyrannical.
“The clarion call heralding the government’s and the people of Zion’s freedom from the yoke of the High Court has already been sounded,” Karhi said Tuesday.
All five living jurists who previously served on the High Court — Aharon Barak, Dorit Beinisch, Asher Grunis, Esther Hayut, and Uzi Vogelman — came together with a joint statement warning the Cabinet’s noncompliance is the “last nail in the coffin of democracy.”
“Such conduct completely undermines normal governance and law in the country. It will lead to anarchy and to the concentration of all governmental powers in the hands of a single body alone, and will make the existence of a functioning society impossible,” the former High Court judges wrote.
Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar claimed Monday that Netanyahu would “comply with the High Court’s decision” in order to avoid a “constitutional crisis.”
The prime minister appeared on CNN for an interview Tuesday but was not asked to comment on the High Court situation, instead speaking at length about President Donald Trump’s relationship with Turkey and concerns about Israel’s decline in support among American voters.