As expected, Israel’s High Court issued a conditional order and a temporary injunction on Sunday morning concerning parts of the Communications Law passed by the Knesset last week.

The decision, issued by Justice Ofer Grosskopf, specifically addresses provisions of the law that were scheduled to take immediate effect and suspends their implementation from the date of publication until a formal decision is made on the requests for an interim injunction.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi responded:

“A. I am not afraid of the High Court. They will judge only according to the laws that we enact.

“B. The High Court has no authority to suspend or strike down laws. An order issued without authority has no legal validity.

“C. The Communications Law approved by the Knesset last week remains fully in force.

“D. I protest on behalf of the honor of the people and the honor of the Knesset of Israel. As long as there is an outrageous temporary order arbitrarily nullifying a Knesset law with the stroke of a pen, and as long as such an unlawful decision is made before a hearing has even taken place, I have no intention of participating in the proceedings. I do not intend to step onto the field with my hands tied while the judge is wearing the uniform of the opposing team.

“E. The lawbreakers on the High Court are violating the oath of allegiance they swore to the State of Israel and its laws. The Speaker of the Knesset should make this clear to them through a special Knesset resolution.

“F. On September 7, candidates will be able to register for the Knesset elections. If there are those who believe that public decisions and the laws of the State of Israel should be determined by the court, they are welcome to run alongside the failed opposition members who do not know how to lose with dignity and who trample democracy.

“G. During the next government’s term, b’ezrat Hashem, we will appoint an Attorney General, a State Attorney, and two-thirds of the High Court justices (10, not 7 as calculated by the High Court). We will repeal, with the stroke of a pen, all of the absurd ‘precedents’ under which whatever Yitzhak Amit says becomes the law.

“H. The people are sovereign. The eternal nation is not afraid of you.”

Finance Minister and Religious Zionism chairman Betzalel Smotrich also sharply criticized the decision, “The fact that a judge, sitting alone and hearing only one side, automatically issues an order freezing Knesset legislation for the second time in a week as though it is the default option, is absolute madness that proves the High Court has completely lost all restraint in its war against the Knesset and the government of the national camp. If the right, chalilah, fails to wake up and win the elections, and afterward completes the judicial reform and appoints conservative and decent judges, we will find ourselves facing ever-increasing tyranny of the left and its values.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also attacked the court: “The dictators in black robes are once again trampling the will of the people’s elected representatives. But there is good news: these are the death throes of the centers of power. The fate of the dictators who ignore the people is to be driven out of public life. The answer to the High Court’s orders will be the order of the day for the next right-wing government—a clean sweep of the judicial system and the elimination of deep-state rule.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)