After a day that included hooligans’ attack on the Knesset (they tried to stick themselves to the floor with Krazy Glue), and after three hours of plenum debate that was mostly yelling and heckling, the coalition bill restricting the reasonability doctrine was passed in a first reading. Coalition members clapped their hands in glee (even though some of them cast a yea vote only in deference to the coalition discipline); opposition members banged their desks and yelled, “Busha! Busha!” or “Shame! Shame!” The phrase is an import from American culture, but what isn’t these days?
It was a great show of force on the part of the Netanyahu coalition which over the past six months has been so much better at giving in, cowering, folding, and reneging on its promises to right-wing voters. This time they looked the other side in the eye – and the other side, mind you, had been promoting the elimination of the reasonability clause for years, it was a main feature on their election platforms – and finally made use of their eight-vote advantage.
The bill is going to be softened in committee, but as it stands now, the High Court of Justice and any other court are prevented from ruling that although a given government action was legal, it does not agree with their understanding, belief system, you name it. I expect that in the end, should PM Benjamin Netanyahu finally agree to the second and third readings that turn a Knesset bill into law, the Reasonability amendment will include permitting the courts to strike down government decisions and appointments that are extremely unreasonable. Caligula’s horse comes to mind: According to the Roman historian Suetonius, the emperor Caligula planned to make his beloved horse Incitatus a consul. He didn’t, but he did make him a priest.
So, should the government come up with appointments that are that outlandish, the court will be able to say it doesn’t make sense, please take this horse back to Caesarea, Mr. Prime Minister. Otherwise, the court must keep mum when the government finally sacks the Gideon Saar-appointed AG Gali Baharav-Miara, in favor of a respected jurist.
Constitution Committee Chairman MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism) introduced the bill at the plenum, saying: “This bill is balanced, responsible, and significantly different from what perhaps should have been enacted. The Reasonability clause is a clause that for many, many years Israel managed without.”
He then listed the bizarre decisions that used this clause in the past few decades: “The High Court decided to whom the Israel Awards are given; the Supreme Court decided that someone calling for refusing to serve is a legitimate appointment to the highest posts, while a minister who says he does not want to appoint to such a high post a person who supported the refusal is deemed unreasonable.”
“I urge you to vote in favor of this bill that will put things in order. It would be unreasonable for you to vote against it,” Rothman concluded.
Should MKs be allowed to pun from the podium like that? Is that reasonable?
For my dose of daily feelgood, I turned to Labor Party Chairman Merav Michaeli, who said after the vote: “The coup d’état government carried out an attack on Israeli democracy tonight. It is lying to the public and tramples on democracy.” She then promised: “The protest will provide the victorious answer of the Israeli public. Israel will not be a dictatorship. Democracy will win. Over you, too.”
Stern words from a politician who succeeded in taking her party down from 24 to 4 mandates, and whose party consistently fails to rise above the threshold vote in the polls.
It’s strange, the stuff that gives me joy, right?
