MKs decry 'bad timing' of Friedmann's bill

By SHELLY PAZ
While their views differ on the cabinet's decision to approve Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann's bill to limit the authority of the Supreme Court, MKs who spoke with The Jerusalem Post on Sunday agreed that shortly before the Olmert government falls apart is a bad time to try to pass such legislation. MK Yossi Beilin (Meretz) told The Jerusalem Post in a telephone interview from Cairo that "this sort of move can only be the decision of someone obsessive like [Justice Minister Daniel] Friedmann, and only a person like [Prime Minister] Ehud Olmert could have brought it to the cabinet for approval. "Objectively, this is a terrible bill and I hope it won't get further than this. I hope either [Foreign Minister Tzipi] Livni or [Transportation Minister Shaul] Mofaz, who voted against it, will commit not to bring it to the approval of the Knesset [assuming one of them heads the next government]." Belin said Friedmann was obsessively trying to harm the primacy of the Supreme Court. "It is a crazy bill that will narrow the courts' authorities that have never been anchored in the law but exist for the sake of Israeli democracy," he said. "If this bill is approved Israel will be less democratic, the rule of law will be at risk and the legislation of unconstitutional laws will be easier than ever." MK Orit Noked (Labor), a lawyer and the coalition's representative on the Judges Selection Committee, said via her spokesman Ze'ev Yanay: "This is the Yom Kippur of Israeli democracy. The shame of the ministers who voted in favor of Friedmann's bill will be remembered as a dreadful disgrace. It is inappropriate to hold such a complex and important discussion over an issue that involves constitutional changes with damaging implications for the Supreme Court's authorities, individuals' rights and Israeli democracy in a state that has no constitution." "Friedmann's bill is correct and its general direction might aid the rehabilitation of Israeli democracy," MK Zevulun Orlev (National Union-National Religious Party) told the Post. "However, the timing with which it was brought to the cabinet for approval is simply miserable. I don't think a government that is afflicted with corruption should try to lead such change with people whose purity of intentions is in doubt." MK Taleb a-Sanaa (United Arab List-Ta'al), a lawyer and a former member of the Knesset's Law Committee, said Friedmann was making a systematic effort to politicize the justice system. "Friedmann asks to strengthen the political system at the expense of the professional aspect," he said. "It is clear that his bill strengthens the justice minister and the Knesset and weakens the president of the Supreme Court and the court system. Eventually, the long-standing balance between these two systems would be broken. The inevitable result is a political justice system that will have to toe the line with the Knesset's agenda."