Justice minister slams Court for striking down Netanyahu’s gas policy, saying she fears that the world will start to view Israel as a “country which eats its investors.
To a rowdy melee of cheers and boos, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked effectively declared war on the High Court of Justice on Monday, hitting it with blow after blow for the recent decision declaring the natural gas policy unconstitutional.
Shaked said she fears that the world will start to view Israel as a “country which eats its investors.”
She added that “the significance of the decision…could cost the government billions of shekels.”
The justice minister said “the decision caused great harm to Israel” by entering into political and economic issues beyond its purview.
Shaked even slammed the High Court for what she called hypocrisy. She asked “why didn’t the court use its discretion to intervene” and veto “the Oslo Accords which created instability.”
She cited former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak as calling areas where it was unclear what lines were between the Knesset and the High Court “black holes” to be filled by the Court.
“I call these areas of governance” of the Knesset and the executive,” Shaked said, noting that there is a panel about whether the High Court has gone beyond its authority. She said, “the question mark is unnecessary,” making it clear she feels the High Court has gone beyond its authority.
Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit and State Comptroller Joseph Shapira responded to Shaked’s unprecedented bare knuckles attack on the Court, saying that “the High Court’s position and independence must be defended.”
Mandelblit went a step further saying “even if one disagrees with the High Court decision on natural gas, it has spoken its word and it must be followed.”
“It is one thing to have a serious issue-related disagreement, and another thing to directly attack the High Court.”
Following Shaked’s harsh criticism of the High Court Labor MK Shelly Yacimovich called on Netanyahu to dismiss the minister.
“Shaked’s attack on the High Court is violent and dangerous. She wants to destroy the independence of the legal system and scare and threaten judges. This is miserable behavior from someone who is meant to strengthen the court, which is one of the best in the world,” Yacimovich said.
“Instead of praising the court for being independent, she is trying with all her power to weaken its standing. Happily, the Israeli public trusts the court and answers as such whenever it is polled, despite the attacks against it. The same can’t be said about the political branch whose status is deteriorating largely because of the irresponsible behavior of ministers in the government,” she said.
“The independence of the judiciary if a foundational principle of democracy and if the harm to it continues, Netanyahu will not be able to claim that Israel is the sole democracy in the Middle East,” she added.
Last week, the High Court struck down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s flagship natural gas policy, but suspended formally striking the law for a year so he and the Knesset can adjust the 10-year freeze on the gas price and some other items.
On one hand, the High Court’s 4-1 decision, with Deputy Supreme Court President Elyakim Rubinstein and Justices Esther Hayot, Uzi Vogelman and Salim Joubran voting in the majority against Justice Noam Sohlberg, invalidated the 10-year rule, which means that the gas reservoir developers cannot freeze their desired price.
On the other hand, by a 4-1 majority, with only Joubran dissenting, the justices upheld most of the other aspects of the framework deal, including the prime minister’s power to override and circumvent objections by the Antitrust Authority on the grounds of national security.
Perhaps most important, by a 3-2 vote, with Rubinstein and Joubran in the minority, the justices ruled that Netanyahu is not obligated to redo the entire policy in the Knesset, but still may do so.
This means that if Netanyahu either reaches an agreement with the gas developers to adjust the 10-year rule freezing terms on details such as price, or institutes a limited change, he should be able to get past any further High Court petitions.
The leftists know better, therefore they have to undermine Israel.