With warnings by former Mossad chiefs ignored, current head says he will be on ‘right side of history’
Despite concern, Barnea says judicial reform not yet ‘crossed the line’
Mossad Director David Barnea said the passing of the Reasonableness Standard Bill on Monday, which restricts judicial review of certain governmental decisions, had not yet crossed the line in endangering the agency.
He also said that the Mossad Intelligence Agency would remain loyal to the rule of law.
According to reports in Hebrew media, Barnea met with Mossad employees on Monday morning to discuss the implications of the bill’s passing.
“If the situation reaches a constitutional crisis, I will be on the right side, but right now is not the time,” according to attendees.
Barnea also made it clear he remains committed to serving on behalf of the Jewish state's security.
In the days before the final Knesset vote, several former senior Mossad and Shin Bet security officials called to halt the voting on the bill.
Last Thursday, former Mossad Chief Tamir Pardo warned that abolishing the reasonableness standard “constitutes the end of democracy and allows the criminal court in The Hague to investigate and prosecute IDF soldiers.”
He also said that Israel would “be similar to Iran and Hungary – ostensibly a democracy, but in practice a dictatorship," during the press conference for the Movement for Quality Government and Paratroopers for Democracy.
All living former Mossad chiefs have spoken out against the reforms, either calling for them to be abandoned or agreed upon through a broad consensus via negotiations.
A group of former Mossad and Shin Bet security heads on Saturday joined a list of 100 senior defense officials in signing a letter calling on Netanyahu to pause the legislation in order to reach a compromise.
On Sunday, Yossi Cohen, a former Mossad head who is considered a close Netanyahu ally, wrote an op-ed for the local Yedioth Ahronoth news outlet, calling for compromise.
Cohen wrote that the judicial reforms are being advanced in a manner that “endangers the national security resilience of the State of Israel in the immediate timeframe.”
Senior Vice President of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Jonathan Schanzer, told the Washington Examiner that Netanyahu “has taken a gamble.”
"He's betting that this will not ultimately have far-reaching effects on Israeli society and Israeli security. And it's a black box. There’s no way anyone knows,” Schanzer said.
Opposition head Yair Lapid has announced an appeal to the Supreme Court to review the bill.
If the Supreme Court rejects the bill, many fear it will lead to a constitutional crisis.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
