Israel Is on the Verge of a Second Constitutional Revolution That Would Make the Courts, Not the People, Sovereign
Declaring the constitution unconstitutional.
December 11, 2020
Israel Is on the Verge of a Second Constitutional Revolution That Would Make the Courts, Not the People, Sovereign
Declaring the constitution unconstitutional.
In the 1995 Mizraḥi Bank decision, the Israeli Supreme Court deemed that the country’s Basic Laws—pieces of legislation that lay out the functioning of the government—serve as its constitution. Thus then-Chief Justice Aharon Barack granted the court the authority to strike down laws it judges to be unconstitutional, even though Israel has no written constitution. This decision laid the groundwork for the Supreme Court’s habit of dangerous overreach. But in an upcoming case, the court will consider reversing this precedent in such a way as to arrogate even more power to itself. Eugene Kontorovich and Shimon Nataf write:
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