Scandal at the High Court: "A black day for Israeli democracy"

No organization from the national camp was approved to join as a friend of the court in the appeal against the the reduction of Clause of Reasonability. Supreme Court judges approved the association 'The Association for Civil Rights' to join the appeal as a 'friend of the court'. The same goes for the association "Adam Teva VeDin." However, all organizations from the national camp that submitted such a request were rejected by the Supreme Court.

The absurdity intensifies when examining the list of appellants, among them the Movement for the Quality of Governance, the multi-sector initiative for smoking cessation, the Civil Democratic Movement, the Bar Association, and the Movement for the Preservation of Democracy and the Rule of Law. All of them are involved in protests against the judicial reform.

"The Supreme Court's decision to lock its gates to civil society organizations, whose stance is that it does not have the authority to invalidate a basic law for the first time in the history of the state, is a colossal absurdity," stated Attorney Eran Ben-Ari from the law firm Ben-Ari, Marans, Techelet & Co, who filed the request for affiliation on behalf of the 'If You Will' movement. "This is a clear stifling of expression. Even just the appearance of justice, the court is no longer attempting to uphold."

"The absurdity cries out to the heavens that the court allows an argument from no fewer than 10 different bodies and various appellants from the left side of the political map, all of whom support the expansion of its authority to invalidate basic laws. The result is that the court will deliberate on changing the regime in Israel from a single civilian perspective. If this is the manner in which the appeals are being heard, then the outcome is clear. A black day for the judicial system and Israeli democracy."