Israel’s High Court on Wednesday issued an order to freeze Michael Rabello’s appointment as State Comptroller until it rules on petitions challenging the appointment.

The decision triggered sharp reactions, with coalition lawmakers attacking the Court and calling for its ruling to be ignored.

Likud MK Chanoch Milwidsky said: “The High Court’s unlawful decision should be ignored. As I’ve been saying for some time, it is a mistake to continue participating in the theater of the absurd of Yitzchak Amit and his fellow rebels. If we want governance, the time has come to act.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated: “First the Shin Bet chief, then the Mossad chief, and now the State Comptroller and the director of the Israel Land Authority. Gali Baharav-Miara and her colleagues on the High Court are crossing red lines time after time by holding Israeli democracy hostage without any authority and thwarting every decision and every appointment made by the national camp. They despise, trample, and spit in the faces of the majority of Israel’s citizens. We will not allow Israel to become a judicial dictatorship. The answer will come at the ballot box—in a big way.”

Likud MK Avichai Boaron wrote: “The High Court’s decision to freeze attorney Rabello’s appointment as State Comptroller is yet another of the Court’s political decisions, another instance of the judiciary’s trampling the people and the legislative branch, and further proof that the judicial system, including the High Court, has become a full-fledged political player. This situation is destroying democracy in Israel, and it will not continue much longer.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)