Historic Supreme Court Hearing

Contrary to the claims of the initiators of the "Legal reform”, trust in the Supreme Court is almost four times greater than in the Knesset

13/09/2023 12:19

Tags: Supreme Court · Knesset · Reasonableness Test

Degree of trust in State Institutions

This week, a critically important hearing took place in Israel’s Supreme Court. For the first time in the history of Israel, the full composition of the Supreme Court (15 judges) heard the petitions which seek to invalidate recent legislation of the Knesset. The controversial legislation attempted to prevent the Supreme Court from applying the “Reasonableness Test” when passing judicial review over actions of the government. Hiddush, too, is a party to these petitions in a “Friend of the Court” role, alongside 38 key Israeli civil rights organizations.

This historical hearing, and a number of other petitions that are currently litigated before the Supreme Court (as part of the challenge to the Knesset “legal overhaul” legislation) are quickly bringing Israel closer to a constitutional clash.

10% of the public place high trust in the Knesset and 13% in the government, compared with 36% percent who place high trust in the Supreme Court

Data from our new Religion and State Index show that contrary to the claims of the initiators of the "Legal Overhaul” that these “reforms” were intended to restore trust in the Supreme Court, trust in the Supreme Court is almost four times greater than in the Knesset.

In response to the question: “In whom do you have a high degree of trust?” 10% of the public place high trust in the Knesset and 13% in the government, compared with 36% percent who place high trust in the Supreme Court. Forty percent answered that they do not trust any of these government institutions. Among Likud voters, 29% have a high degree of trust in the government, 17% in the Knesset, and 13% in the Supreme Court.