by Israel National News
Israel's Supreme Court has warned that government ministers and public officials could face personal civil liability if they fail to comply with a court ruling on the broadcast authorities.
 |
| Yitzchak Amit Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 |
Israel's Supreme Court has warned that government ministers and public officials could face personal civil liability if they fail to comply with a court ruling concerning the Second Authority, escalating an increasingly tense standoff between the judiciary and the government.
In a response issued Tuesday, Court President Yitzchak Amit, together with Justices Alex Stein and Ruth Ronen, stressed that all public officials-both elected representatives and civil servants-are obligated to act in accordance with the law and judicial rulings.
The judges added that public employees who act contrary to court decisions could, in appropriate circumstances, lose the personal legal immunity that normally protects them from civil tort claims.
"The basic principles apply both to elected public officials and to public employees, who are all required to act in accordance with the law," the justices wrote, adding that immunity from personal lawsuits may not apply where officials disregard judicial decisions.
The warning drew a sharp response from Bezalel Smotrich, chairman of the Religious Zionism party and a cabinet minister, who accused the judiciary of attempting to intimidate elected officials.
"The legal 'mafia' has moved to extortion through threats," Smotrich said. Comparing the court's warning to a protection racket, he argued that such threats warrant a police investigation and declared that "no one is above the law, not even Yitzchak Amit and Gali Bahar-Miara." He added that the government would ultimately prevail "at the ballot box."
The exchange follows a government statement issued earlier this week criticizing the Supreme Court's June 17 ruling that allowed the Second Authority Council to continue functioning despite its membership falling below the minimum number required by law.
Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs sought to clarify that the government's position does not call for defying the court's decision.
Writing on X, Fuchs said media reports had mischaracterized the government's statement, arguing that it expressed strong criticism of the ruling while committing only to pursuing "all legal tools" available to overturn it in the future.
"How do legal tools become non-compliance with a ruling?" he asked.
In its approved statement, the government maintained that the rule of law requires all branches of government to be subject to the law and asserted that no institution-including the government, the Knesset, or the Supreme Court-is above it.
The government argued that the June 17 ruling conflicts with the explicit language of Section 21 of the Authority for Television and Radio Law by permitting the Second Authority Council to operate without the legally required number of members.
It pledged to use all available legal avenues to seek the ruling's reversal and said it would not recognize future claims seeking to validate actions taken by a council that, in its view, does not satisfy the statutory quorum requirements.
The government described the dispute as an exceptional case, arguing that the law's wording is unambiguous and that the court's interpretation directly contradicts it, rather than representing a routine disagreement over judicial interpretation.
Israel National News
Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/429776
No comments:
Post a Comment