Shas chairman Arye Deri instructed members of his party on Sunday to promote and formulate a new law to prevent the publication of the ruling by the High Court of Justice concerning the reasonableness standard law.
The proposed law would set a nine-month period for the publication of rulings concerning Basic Laws in order to give the court more time before it needs to publish the ruling and to prevent infighting in Israel in the middle of the war.
Bill sparks opposition
National Unity Party MK Gideon Sa'ar announced that he would oppose any attempt to pass the law, saying "such an attempt is particularly serious because it will be carried out by the legislature regarding a ruling concerning judicial review. I say this regardless of the content of the ruling."
"The attempt to claim that this will prevent discord among the people is of course complete nonsense because such legislation will cause a much greater discord. After the war, the responsible forces in the political system will have to, among other things, try to establish a common infrastructure for a broad consensus centered on the enactment of a Basic Law: Legislation," added Sa'ar.
Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid also expressed opposition to the bill.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel expressed outrage at Deri's proposition, stating "This is a personal law that was enacted after the decisions of the judges were written. In fact, the Knesset seeks to intervene in the judicial act and change the judgments. This is a complete ruin of the separation of authorities in the State of Israel. Woe to the Knesset, these are the laws it is promoting these days."
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, a member of Shas, stressed that the bill does not seek to prevent the court from deciding when to publish the ruling, it only provides the court with the option to delay the announcement if it wishes to.
"I call on my friends who are in a hurry to respond to take a second look and not dismiss it outright. If the court wants it can give the verdict now, if it wants to wait it will wait. This is an optional and non-binding offer. Only together will we win," said Arbel.