Minister Karhi calls to abolish Israeli High Court, replace it with court whose powers are limited by Knesset

In the latest round of the ongoing battle between Israel’s right-wing government and its left-leaning judicial system, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi caused another controversy when he suggested that the government has the right to change the system of government.

According to leaks from a closed hearing of the Knesset's Ministerial Committee on Legislative Matters on Sunday, Karhi claimed that the government’s legal council is delaying opinions on a law he requested.

“I've been waiting for it for a long time, and it didn’t come. Now they say it’s a regime change. So I answer them – we are elected officials and we can also change the system of government if we want, and determine changes in conduct and method.”

Karhi’s outburst came against the background of years of battles between Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, who is responsible for issuing legal counsel for the government, and the right-wing coalition, which is accusing her of undermining its agenda and several of whose members have called for her to be fired.

The judicial reform battle was the largest clash between the government and the attorney general so far.

Sunday’s meeting saw another such skirmish, as the committee approved two bills against the counsel of Baharav-Miara.

One bill seeks to privatize the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, which includes Kan News, Israel's state broadcaster, while another seeks to strengthen the immunity of Knesset members from lawsuits and criminal investigations.

In an interview with Kol Barama Radio, Karhi later clarified his opinion that the elected government should have authority over the court system

“The High Court thinks that it is above the rule of law, above the laws and above the regulations. The High Court should be abolished, and a new judicial court should be established, whose powers will be defined by the Knesset,” he argued.

Instead of the High Court, Karhi wants to establish a “legal body that will not gnaw at the foundations of democracy.”

Responding to a report by Ynet News, Karhi referred to another difference of opinion regarding his plans to cut all governmental relations with the Haaretz newspaper, after controversial comments by its publisher.

“The legal advice is not allowed to come up with unfounded and embarrassing opinions about ‘regime change’ when it is all about non-financing of a newspaper from government funds. And if they issue such an opinion, then ‘with the pure you will show yourself pure’,” he said, citing Psalm 18:26, the second part of which reads, “And with the devious you will show yourself shrewd.”

“The liberal agenda that I have been leading for six years is being implemented regarding the fact that there is no need for public broadcasting of news and current affairs. And they continue to say the obvious, if the Golem rises against its creator, it should be replaced by a new, elected judicial body, whose powers will be defined by law,” Karhi added.

Karhi’s comments led to a backlash from opposition leaders. The Yesh Atid party accused him of “babbling,” and called to change the security situation rather than “dividing the nation and leading to another disaster.”

Yesh Atid Knesset Member Elazar Stern accused Karhi of continuing "the incitement, division and hatred that led to October 7."

"Minister Karhi, the chief instigator, who quotes like a rabbi and incites like a muezzin of the Muslim Brotherhood, wants to abolish the High Court, erase democracy and damage what still holds us together," Stern continued.

"Our enemies from the outside were not able to break us, but from the inside – the ministers in the government are doing the work in their place," he added.

The Israeli Majority Forum, which has carried out a country-wide ad campaign with the motto, “It's time for elections” in recent weeks, stated, “The Israeli public wants democracy, will fight for democracy and will not let an extreme and dangerous government abolish democracy.”

“Karhi showed his cards and again revealed the government’s true intentions, which are light years away from the will of the public. It's election time.”

Minister Ze’ev Elkin, who recently re-joined the coalition with the New Hope party, distanced himself from Karhi in an interview with 103 FM radio.

“On key issues, we reserved for ourselves the freedom to vote. When I look at the overall picture, formally - Knesset members are allowed to change the system of government,” said Elkin.

“I think that the democratic system today is good, there may be things that can be changed, but this is not the time, and certainly not in the direction that Karhi implies. After we joined [the government] last week, we voted against the government on a legal issue,” he noted.