judicial review

Finance Minister and Religious Zionist Party chairman Bezalel Smotrich tours the Mahane Yehuda Market as part of the party’s election campaign, in Jerusalem, October 9, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Why Smotrich still defines the horizon of Israeli politics

In the nine years since the MK’s ‘Decisive Plan,’ Israeli liberals acceded to the religious right’s maximalism — while claiming to oppose ‘messianic’ violence.

By Avi-ram Tzoreff October 20, 2026

Israelis rally in defense of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara at Habima Square, Tel Aviv, March 27, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

The glorious legacy of Israel’s so-called ‘guardian of democracy’

The government’s efforts to oust the AG must be resisted. But even by her own admission, she has proudly signed off on Israel’s crimes against Palestinians.

By Orly Noy and Amos Brison March 28, 2025

Right-wing Israelis attend a rally in support of the government's planned judicial overhaul, outside the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on April 27, 2023. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

The settlers wanted supreme power. They got a rebellion instead

The religious-Zionist movement has made vast inroads in Israeli state and society for two decades. The judicial overhaul may bring it all crashing down.

By Meron Rapoport August 15, 2023

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Netanyahu supporters hold a counter-protest to the mass demonstrations against the far-right government and its judicial overhaul, Tel Aviv, March 18, 2023. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

In the looming civil war, the Israeli right has the upper hand

While the government can rely on national-religious identity to mobilize supporters, the opposition’s counternarrative suffers a serious weakness.

By Menachem Klein July 24, 2023

Protest against Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich during his visit to Washington DC, March 13, 2023. (Gili Getz)

‘A moment of disillusionment’: American Jews torn as Israel turns 75

Grappling with a far-right government and growing awareness of the Nakba, American Jews revealed mixed feelings marking Israel's independence.

By Emily Tamkin June 2, 2023

Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion reading Israel's Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv, May 14, 1948. (Zoltan Kluger/GPO)

Why Israeli efforts to write a constitution always fail

Resurrected by the protest movement, the idea of a constitution has been pursued throughout Israel's history. But opposition to equality foils its fruition.

By Dahlia Scheindlin April 4, 2023

Israeli reserve soldiers, veterans and activists protest outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, against the government's planned reforms, February 10, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A mass wave of Israeli army refusal could be a transformative moment

Civil resistance against the government has put the Israeli military in an unparalleled crisis, presenting an opportunity for those fighting apartheid.

By Shimri Zameret March 5, 2023

Thousands of Israeli protesters rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government in Tel Aviv, February 11, 2023. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)

The settler-colonial origins of Israel’s constitutional crisis

The government’s assault on the judiciary is driven by the same urge as the state’s founders: to protect their power to privilege Jews over Palestinians.

By Yousef Munayyer February 24, 2023

Opposition MKs holding Israeli flags during a discussion and vote on the government's judicial overhaul plans in the assembly hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Why Israel’s opposition won’t talk about the real goal of judicial overhaul

Government officials have explicitly said their legal reforms are about annexation. Opponents won't admit it because they share the same vision.

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man February 21, 2023

Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut and other justices arrive for a court hearing on the election committee's decision to disqualify Balad from running in the Knesset election, Jerusalem, October 6, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israeli courts legitimized the state’s worst policies. We must still protect them

It is hard for critics to stand up for a judiciary that enables many human rights abuses. But the coalition's plans would make the regime far more repressive.

By Natalie Davidson and Limor Yehuda January 23, 2023

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, January 11, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The Israeli right is the minority — the left need only realize it

It’s time for the Jewish left to understand that by aligning its struggle with the Palestinians, it can be part of a majority against occupation and apartheid.

By Meron Rapoport January 12, 2023

Israel's Supreme Court sits as the High Court of Justice, April 1, 2014. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills)

The real reason Netanyahu has the High Court in his crosshairs

The government’s plan to curb the High Court’s authority distracts from the fact that on most of Israel’s discriminatory and anti-democratic laws and policies, the two institutions see eye to eye. In recent weeks, the Israeli media has reported on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan to propose new legislation that would grant the government more authority…

By Amjad Iraqi May 6, 2015

Complete control: On the unquestioned authority of the Interior Ministry

Israel’s judges rarely question whether the Interior Ministry may not actually be an expert on immigration matters, or whether it might be making decisions without asking the right questions – even when someone’s life is on the line. The courts generally accept any, or nearly any, factual claim provided by the Interior Ministry regarding individuals…

By Laissez Passer April 27, 2013