As new elections loom, Israel’s Supreme Court deliberates Nationality Law
On the backdrop of announced fourth elections, right-wing circles see the hearing last week on the controversial Nationality Law as evidence that the Supreme Court leans toward the left.
It was not business as usual in the Supreme Court Dec. 22. In fact, it was one of the most unusual cases ever taken on by the court. At the center of the hearing was the Nationality Law, passed by the Knesset just two years ago after years of controversy. It anchors the Jewish character of the State of Israel.
But more so, the hearing was unusual because it focused on a Basic Law. Israel has no constitution; thus, Basic Laws have the status of constitutional amendments. Proposed bills at the Knesset must not contradict Basic Laws, and the Supreme Court had never repealed one.
The very fact that the hearing took place at the height of the longest and most serious constitutional crisis in all of Israel’s history — and on the day that the government fell and the Knesset was dissolved for the fourth time in two years — added another dimension to the crisis.
The seriousness of the event could also be seen in the unusual makeup of the bench. The hearing took place before an expanded group of 11 justices, presided over by President of the Supreme Court Esther Hayut. They are slated to rule on 15 petitions submitted by representatives of the country’s Druze community, civil rights groups, left-wing politicians and academics. All these groups petitioned the court to overturn the law, claiming that it discriminates against Israel’s non-Jewish citizens and poses a mortal threat to Israeli democracy.
