Rivlin: ‘I fear for the Supreme Court’s standing’

“There is no doubt that if we do not respect the separation of powers."

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Updated: NOVEMBER 20, 2016 06:01
Settlers hold a protest for Amona (photo credit: THE CAMPAIGN TO SAVE AMONA)
Settlers hold a protest for Amona
(photo credit: THE CAMPAIGN TO SAVE AMONA)
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said he feared for the standing of the Supreme Court now that Knesset parliamentarians were formulating a bill to circumvent High Court of Justice rulings with regard to unauthorized settler homes in the West Bank.
“There is no doubt that if we do not respect the separation of powers,” and there is no recognition of the court as the arbitrator of democracy then could be a “situation where there is no law and no society.” Rivlin said.
Therefore, he said, “we have to carry out the court’s orders.”
When pressed by reporters, he said, “I fear for the Supreme Court’s standing.”
Rivlin spoke with reporters in New Delhi about attempts by Knesset parliamentarians in Jerusalem to pass a bill to retroactively legalize some 2,000 unauthorized homes.
The right-wing parliamentarians who support a Regulations bill, hope its passage would save the Amona outpost from a High Court of Justice ruling ordering its destruction by December 25, because it was built without permits on private Palestinian property.
The bill, would also save nine homes in the Ofra settlement from a court ordered demolition in February and the Netiv Avot outpost which the court has similarly ordered must be razed.
But he clarified that he supported the essential principle of the bill, which is that the government bore responsibility for the creation of the Amona outpost, and other similar communities.
The people who live in those communities, he said, were sent there as emissaries of the government.
Rivlin added that there were situation in which the Knesset could legislate a law that superseded a court ruling, but that it needed to be done according to very clearly established guidelines.
He suggested the creation of a Basic Law, to create a procedure by which this could be done.
It’s important, he said, to clarify the limits of the powers of both the court and the Knesset, so that one body infringe on the other.