Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, the chairman of the Kulanu Party, has risen up in support of the Supreme Court on more than one occasion. This time, however, was the most important of those occasions and the most effective.

For several months now, coalition partner HaBayit HaYehudi has been battling for a law amendment that would limit the powers of the Supreme Court. This amendment, known as the Override Clause, is designed to allow the Knesset to adopt bills judged by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional. In fact, by allowing the Knesset to approve laws overturned by the Supreme Court, the amendment would weaken the court significantly. Until May 6, Kahlon allowed Naftali Bennett, the chairman of HaBayit HaYehudi, to use the Override Clause to his advantage.

Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who is the No. 2 member of his party, have been vigorously promoting a plan to reduce the power of the Supreme Court. The Override Clause is an important part of that plan. On Sunday, Bennett insisted on bringing the new legislation to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation in order to obtain their approval, despite the opposition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself. Netanyahu was well-aware of Kahlon’s opposition to the proposal. And so he preferred to postpone the vote by one week so that he could cobble together an agreement within his coalition over the final language of the Override Clause. But Bennett decided to go for broke. It seemed that he had won, too, if only for a moment, when the committee approved the legislation. Very soon, however, it became clear that Bennett had actually lost.

Acting in his typically nonchalant manner, Kahlon made an appearance before the cameras during a tour of settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip. Standing against a backdrop of golden fields, with the hum of a light plane hovering above him, he announced that he plans to instruct the members of his faction to oppose the law when it is brought for a vote in the Knesset. “The Kulanu Party has an agreement with the prime minister over preserving the rule of law. We will not allow the extremists to set the agenda for the State of Israel. Extreme moves will not get us anywhere. That is why I am calling on the prime minister to advance a policy of moderation and to allay the concerns of his coalition partners,” said Kahlon.