Daily Briefing July 6: High Court showdown: Is Israel facing a constitutional crisis?

Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Legal correspondent Jeremy Sharon joins host Jessica Steinberg for today’s episode.

WATCH the full episode here:

X

A constitutional crisis is brewing, Sharon says, as the government, in a declaration authored by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, said it will not obey a High Court of Justice ruling regarding the Second Authority, the regulatory body for commercial broadcast media, which relates to the sale of Channel 13.

Sharon reports that President Isaac Herzog immediately warned that when the government refuses to heed High Court orders, it crosses an untenable red line, while the opposition warned that yesterday’s declaration paves the way for other, more severe situations, such as electoral interference, and ultimately threatens Israel’s democracy.

Sharon reports on another recent High Court decision that could have led to a constitutional crisis, when the court ruled that the government must redo the election for the state comptroller, following violations of ballot secrecy in the previous round. The “elected” comptroller, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal attorney Michael Rabello, appears to have helped avoid that crisis, however, by reportedly making clear that he would not defy the court — by taking up the post without a revote — even if the government was prepared to do so.

Check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Government defiance of High Court paves way for future disregard of the law

In first, government vows to disobey High Court ruling, setting up constitutional crisis

High Court rules state comptroller election violated ballot secrecy, must be held again

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.

Check out yesterday’s episode here: