The Israeli government said on Sunday it would ignore a High Court ruling regarding a broadcasting regulator, marking a direct challenge to the authority of Israel’s highest judicial body.
The move deepens a long-running dispute between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the judiciary, and drew strong criticism from the opposition and president.
The case concerns the Israeli broadcast regulator that oversees private commercial television and radio stations.
Last month, the High Court ruled that the regulator could continue operating even after seven of its 15 board members resigned, leaving it without the legal quorum normally required to make decisions.
Israeli media have reported that some of the resignations followed political pressure.
The regulator is currently reviewing the proposed takeover of Channel 13, one of Israel’s main television networks, by a group of technology investors widely seen as critical of Netanyahu’s government.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Justice Minister Yariv Levin rejected the court’s decision.
In a letter to the High Court on Sunday, they wrote that “a ruling that contradicts the law will not be recognised, and decisions made under its authority are null and void”.
Karhi branded the court’s justices “lawbreakers” on X.
The Union of Journalists in Israel condemned the government’s decision to ignore the ruling.
It “is transparently intended to thwart the Channel 13 takeover deal by hi-tech businessmen, while trampling the Supreme Court and the rule of law in an unprecedented manner”, it said.
President Isaac Herzog also expressed sharp criticism, saying on X: “Noncompliance with a court ruling is a red line that must not be crossed under any circumstances.”
Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the centre-right opposition party Yashar — and a leading candidate to succeed Netanyahu in upcoming elections — wrote on X that “the Israeli government is attacking Israeli democracy”.
Yair Golan, leader of the centre-left Democrats party, warned of a slippery slope in which the government could go on to ignore the top court’s rulings after the elections due to be held in October.
“This is a government that wants to practice and normalise noncompliance with the court, so that it can refuse tomorrow to accept the election results and vacate power after it is defeated at the polls,” Golan wrote on X.
