The Israeli Cabinet unanimously approved a resolution on Sunday declaring it will not recognize decisions made by the country’s Second Authority for Television and Radio, rejecting a Supreme Court ruling that allowed the regulator to continue operating despite lacking the legally required quorum.
The resolution, proposed by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, states that the government “will not recognize any decision, approval, appointment or action” taken by the body’s 15-member council so long as it does not meet the minimum legal requirements, Channel 12 News reported.
In a joint statement, Karhi and Levin argued that the rule of law binds all branches of government, including the Supreme Court, and that “a ruling that directly contradicts the clear language of the law cannot grant authority that does not exist in law.”
The legal dispute centers on the Second Authority, the statutory regulator overseeing the Jewish state’s commercial television and radio broadcasters.
Last month, the Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, ruled that the Second Authority’s council, chaired by Mordechai Mordechai, could continue convening and making decisions despite a wave of resignations that left it below the legal two-thirds quorum. It also froze the government’s decision to change the composition of the council.
The court said its ruling was warranted because of what it described as the “deliberate obstruction and paralysis” of the council’s operations, which it suggested Karhi could have orchestrated following an interim order against the government in May.
The ruling followed petitions by the Union of Journalists in Israel and the Movement for Quality Government, which argued the council needed to remain functional to oversee regulatory matters.
Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon criticized the government’s decision during a Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting on Sunday, warning it could normalize disregarding judicial rulings whenever ministers disagree with them, Channel 12 reported.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid Party) also condemned the move, writing on X that “a government that refuses to accept Supreme Court rulings immediately becomes an illegal government whose decisions we will not recognize.”
“From our perspective, the members of the Second Authority’s council remain legally in office, and their decisions are binding,” he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week renewed his call for judicial reform, saying recent developments in his corruption trial had bolstered public support for reshaping the country’s legal system.
“We will continue with judicial reform,” Netanyahu told Yinon Magal, host of Channel 14‘s flagship “The Patriots” program, in a rare interview with a Hebrew-language broadcaster, four months before a general election.
“People want a fair judicial system. They want a judicial system that operates according to the principles of the law. And that is possible,” the prime minister said.
