Esther Hayut is the President of Israel’s Supreme Court. Shortly before her retirement, her chamber must now decide on a lawsuit against the Netanyahu government’s controversial judicial reform.
If everything were going normally in Israel, Esther Hayut would now be completely relaxed and on the home stretch. On October 16, when she celebrates her 70th birthday, she will retire as President of the Supreme Court.
But shortly before the end of her term in office, she has probably the most difficult case of her career on the table. Ironically, Israel’s Supreme Court has to deal with a government law aimed at weakening it.
There is a lot of pressure on Hayut
And the pressure on the president is great. This was seen last week when Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, directly attacked Hayut at a rally in Jerusalem – in front of a booing crowd.
“Even if you think our corrections to the justice system are wrong or think that things should be done differently: repealing one of the basic laws would be a clear overstep of your authority,” said Smotrich. “That would be the end of Israeli democracy. I urge you not to make decisions that will tear apart the people of Israel, separate families and divide the army. Don’t you dare repeal any of the basic laws – the responsibility lies with you.”
Hayut criticized the law
Hayut shies away from publicity – the mother of two children has barely spoken outside the courtroom. It was all the more unusual that at the beginning of the year – right after Israel’s newly elected government presented its plans for judicial reform – it burst out during a conference:
The new justice minister’s plan will not correct the justice system, but rather shatter it. It represents a mortal wound to the independence of judges and their ability to act. It will change the democratic identity of the state. Minister, that is not the right way.
“Mr. Minister” – she meant Yariv Levin, Israel’s justice minister, who is still pushing forward judicial reform to this day. And because Hayut’s warning had weight, he went to the press and tried once again to promote his reform: “As President Hayut said: Democracy is not just the right of the majority. This important principle and the protection of the rights of the minority is The basis of the reform that I have presented.”
According to Levin, the reform includes, among other things, the possibility for the Supreme Court to declare laws invalid with a special majority and ensures adequate representation of judges on the commission that selects the judges.
hopes of the protest movement rest on Hayut
This has not convinced millions of Israelis who have taken to the streets since protesting against the judicial reform. They hope for Hayut and a decision that prevents the judiciary from being weakened. Because without a constitution and without control mechanisms such as a second chamber, the Supreme Court in Israel plays a central role in the separation of powers.
But the narrative that prevails in large parts of the right-wing government coalition is that a predominantly left-wing judiciary has taken the country hostage – and the main enemy is Hayut, the chairwoman.
She recently made it clear at a hearing that she just wants to do her job until she retires: “We received a lot of criticism for not being on the political stage at all – always when one or the other side didn’t like our verdict. And yet we insist on being apolitical and remaining exclusively legal.” In this difficult case, their skills are particularly in demand.