Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara reportedly told the High Court of Justice in the evening that the government’s decision undermined fundamental principles of the rule of law.
In her submission to the court, she also warned that the government’s refusal to comply with the court’s ruling posed a threat to the justice system.
She also stated that the coalition’s decision to ignore the ruling intended “to intimidate anyone who seeks to uphold them,” and added that “this undermines the basic principles of the rule of law.”
President Isaac Herzog denounced the government’s decision not to comply with a Supreme Court injunction barring newly appointed Second Authority Council members from convening, following petitions arguing the new appointments were political, in a post on X/Twitter on Sunday, bringing about a constitutional crisis.
“Statements of noncompliance with Supreme Court rulings harm the core unity in the nation,” he wrote.
“I have already clarified this, and I will repeat it again and again – noncompliance with a court ruling is a red line that must not be crossed under any circumstances,” Herzog wrote.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said a government that fails to accept the court rulings immediately becomes an unlawful government “whose rulings and decisions we will not accept.”
“In our view, the term of office of the members of the Second Broadcasting Authority remains valid, and their decisions are binding,” Lapid added.
Lapid: Government has become a criminal today
“The government has become a criminal today. It is no coincidence that this decision came a few months before the elections,” he said.
“This decision means that as of today, there is no law in Israel,” he continued. “This is the most serious constitutional crisis in the history of Israel; it is a collapse of the foundations of our democracy.
“If the government sees that it is going to lose the elections, it will announce that it is postponing them due to a tense security situation, or for any other reason, and there will be no possibility of appealing this in court,” he said.
“It doesn’t end here. We are not helpless. We will not give in to the attempts to erase Israeli democracy. We have many ways to respond. It doesn’t end today; it is just beginning,” he concluded.
MK Oded Forer from the Yisrael Beytenu Party, led by Avigdor Liberman, questioned: “If government ministers do not comply with court rulings, why should organized crime families comply? Why should citizens pay taxes?”
