Unreasonable Justice: Israel’s Constitutional Crisis

Since 2023, the State of Israel has been grappling with a constitutional crisis. With protests in the streets, diplomatic tensions, and the world’s attention, Israel faces decisions with the potential to completely unravel its democracy. 

On January 4, 2023, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, along with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, unveiled their plan for an unprecedented overhaul of Israel’s judicial system. Their plan rested on two pillars – expanding political power over judicial appointments, and curbing the High Court’s power to strike down legislation. The announcement sparked massive anti-government protests in Israel, with citizens strongly opposing the proposed changes.

A Timeline of the Overhaul

Importantly, Israel does not have a written constitution. In its place, Israel has what are called “Basic Laws,” a collection of statutes passed by Israel’s parliament – the Knesset. Notably, these Basic Laws can be amended at any time by the Knesset with just a simple majority (i.e. more than 60 of its 120 members). 

The first step in the overhaul came on March 23, 2023, when the Knesset passed the “Incapacitation Law;” a statute boosting political control over judicial appointments and weakening the process for removing a sitting Prime Minister. It passed 67 - 1 after the opposition walked out to boycott the vote. 

This development poured gasoline onto the already roaring anti-government sentiment in Israel. Thousands of citizens stood outside the Knesset in protest of what they saw as the “erosion of Israeli democracy.” 

Quickly, dissent began to brew within the government itself, and on March 26, 2023, Netanyahu fired his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, for publicly challenging the plan. Protests intensified, with tens of thousands flooding the streets every weekend to demonstrate their vehement opposition to the changes. In April, Moody’s revised its financial outlook on Israel, citing governance risk.

The second step of the overhaul came on July 23, 2023, when the Knesset passed the much more controversial “Reasonableness Law.” Relative to the Incapacitation Law, the Reasonableness Law had much larger implications for Israel’s system of checks and balances. 

Specifically, the Reasonableness Law stripped the Court of the power to void decisions as “unreasonable” when made by the prime minister, other ministers, or the government as a whole. 

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s majority coalition, which spearheaded the effort, publicly casts the Supreme Court as detached from reality. They continue to perceive the Court as a threat to their ultranationalist faction of government, with one far-right minister claiming the institution is “becoming a circus.” 

Finally, in September 2023, Israel’s Supreme Court began the months-long process of hearing petitions related to the Reasonableness Law and deciding, under major public pressure, what to do with it. 

Then, on October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Israel, fanning the region’s simmering tensions into a heated engagement. With the government occupied ensuring wartime preparedness, the Supreme Court’s progress slowed, and the law’s future remained uncertain.

The High Court Strikes Back

Two months into the war, on January 1, 2024, the Supreme Court issued a monumental decision striking down the “Reasonableness Law.” In the 8-7 decision, Israel’s High Court officially declared the law to have caused “severe and unprecedented harm to the core characteristics of Israel as a democratic state.” 

In a similar move, the Court restricted the Incapacitation Law from being used retroactively, limiting its applicability to only future officeholders. This prevented the Incapacitation Law from being applied until the next election cycle. Right-wing Knesset members, who championed the effort, publicly denounced the decision. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich labeled it “extreme and divisive.” 

These are, however, the only parts of the overhaul that were legally overturned. With the Incapacitation Law set to take effect after the next election, this issue has by no means been resolved; it has been placed on hold during the ongoing war. In the meantime, protests against the overhaul have only intensified, fueled further by the government’s handling of the situation in Gaza. 

Since these decisions, the standoff has further intensified. In March 2025, the Knesset passed a “Judicial Appointments Law,” scheduled to take effect in the next Knesset. Protests intensified further, with weekly demonstrations becoming a routine aspect of many Israelis’ lives. 

Despite being mired by the war, the standoff between the judicial branch and the Knesset continues to be a problem in government affairs. A clear example of this occurred in August of 2025, when the government voted unanimously to remove Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. 

The Supreme Court subsequently issued an order freezing the firing until it finished reviewing petitions, to which the Minister of Communications responded with a letter instructing public servants to ignore the Court’s order and act as though the Attorney General was dismissed. 

The Problem of Judicial Enforcement

A recurring issue here is the judicial enforcement problem. This problem is common to all Courts, but most significantly supreme courts, since they heavily rely on other branches (generally the executive) to actually enforce their orders and decisions. 

This creates a serious problem when the Court checks the power of the executive branch, since the Court relies upon that very branch to carry out the limiting decision, and therefore needs to trust that the executive will choose to self-regulate. The problem is shared by all countries where judicial decisions require external enforcement (i.e. Israel and the United States). 

This is why Israel’s Supreme Court and Knesset are in a standoff. The lack of guaranteed enforcement for the Supreme Court’s decisions makes them easy for the government to ignore. The situation with the Attorney General is a perfect example of this. 

Furthermore, unlike the United States, Israel has no formal Constitution to decisively settle these issues. The Basic Laws, which again, can be amended by a simple majority, provide unstable guidance for how these standoffs should be handled. 

This is why the judicial overhaul quickly escalated into a constitutional crisis. The situation leaves Israelis with grave uncertainties and many unanswered questions about the future of their country.

The View From America

The United States is very different from Israel. For one, our Constitution provides much more stable guidelines for the intricate workings of checks and balances. However, our Supreme Court is still an unfortunate victim of the enforceability problem. Even here, checks against the executive branch could simply not be carried out, and could therefore be nullified, in essence, by the executive. 

Ever since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, he has made a series of legally questionable decisions–– most notably on the topic of immigration. As a result, the Supreme Court has been called upon on multiple occasions to provide guidance as to whether or not his actions may be reconciled with the Constitution. 

Concerningly, President Trump has indicated a reluctance to comply with the Court’s orders, and has even defied them on some occasions. While the Court has ruled in favor of the Administration in some cases, it has often barred the Administration from taking certain actions. 

Considering the situation in Israel, and the enforcement problem, Americans should be asking themselves: Can we trust the executive branch, under Trump, to comply with SCOTUS if his actions are deemed unconstitutional? Does our Constitution save us from a fate similar to Israel’s? 

Image Source: The Independent