The term “anarchy” was ubiquitous this past week in Israel’s political discourse, unrelated to criticism of the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis. Senior representatives of the executive branch talked about “anarchy.” For example, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said that even though his Likud party disagrees with the Supreme Court’s ruling ordering Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to urgently convene the plenary to elect a new speaker, “we will not reach a state of anarchy.” Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan and Agriculture Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, both of the Likud, expressed similar viewpoints. Blue and White leader Benny Gantz urged Interim Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to tell the people of Israel in no uncertain terms that Supreme Court rulings must be obeyed and that there will be no anarchy in Israel.”

On the other hand, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin of the Likud accused the justices of “leading Israel to anarchy.” Levin, a lawyer, added, "If Chief Justice [Esther] Hayut wants to put herself above the Knesset, she is invited to arrive to the building with her guards and open the session herself.” Levin also claimed that “a handful of judges who elect each other behind closed doors have declared a political coup.” In other words, Levin is arguing that a group of regime opponents are plotting within the nation’s top court to unseat the prime minister and to do so, this cabal is willing to smash one of the foundation stones of Israeli democracy — the separation of powers between the judicial and legislative branches of government.

Levin is obviously aware of the fact that the Judicial Appointments Committee consists of nine members, including four politicians, two Bar Association members and three judges. Appointment of a Supreme Court justice requires approval by a majority of seven panel members, and thus the politicians actually have control over the makeup of the court. It is also worth remembering that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been in power for the past decade and that the previous justice minister, Ayelet Shaked, a representative of the radical right, boasts of the many appointments of conservative judges during her tenure.

Unlike the impression that the conservative right is seeking to convey on Edelstein’s back that the Supreme Court enjoys limitless power, the executive branch often displays contempt for the top court’s rulings. Only rarely does the parliamentary opposition weigh in to forestall arbitrary decisions by the Knesset majority. In 2009, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel documented no fewer than eight instances in which the state displayed contempt or was still displaying contempt for Supreme Court decisions since 2006. Among other cases, it found two decisions regarding the fortification against rockets of schools in Gaza border communities, three rulings ordering the state to build 100 classrooms in East Jerusalem and a decision regarding the violation of the rights of migrant workers. In a 2009 ruling on a petition against the route of the wall between Israel and the West Bank, then-Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch was harshly critical of the state for ignoring a previous court ruling for years. She found it appropriate to remind the government of what should have been obvious — that “the rulings of this court are not by way of being recommendations.”