Chairman of the Likud faction, MK Mickey Zohar, This morning (Sunday) on Galei Tzahal, he sharply criticized the very fact that the High Court of Justice is holding a hearing on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ability to form a government and lead it, due to his legal situation.
""I hope the judges will not make a decision that will undermine democracy," said MK Zohar. "Such a decision would mean a fourth election.".
The chairman of the Likud faction later said that if the fourth election scenario does indeed come true, then the Likud will win them and after that "we will pass the override clause and allow Benjamin Netanyahu to become Prime Minister.".
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Minister of Energy Yuval Steinitz He said in an interview he gave to Anat Davidov and Golan Yochpaz on 103FM radio about the High Court debate: "In my opinion, it's a mirage that this debate is even taking place. We live in a democracy, and in no Western democracy has it ever happened that the Supreme Court annulled the election results after the election.".
He said, "A discussion on the question of whether to disqualify Netanyahu means annulling the election results. The democratic principle of choosing and being elected is sacred, if anything a court should protect it and not ask itself whether it can be annulled.".
Steinitz explained: "The right to vote and be elected is truly a fundamental principle in democracy," and therefore the Supreme Court "with a little modesty, should have done what any normal court, for example in the US, would have said - 'This is an unjudicial issue, the question of the term or termination of the term or commencement of the term of a prime minister is reserved only for parliament.' Why? Because parliament is an elected body and therefore it is essentially reserved through parliament for our outline for 9 million citizens who also went to the elections.".
Minister Steinitz emphasized: "The absurdity is that the Supreme Court is even discussing such an issue. You ask yourself - is it a guardian of the rule of law and is it a guardian of democracy, a protector of democracy? Someone who repeals laws and there is a Basic Law of the Government, someone who discusses the possibility of repealing laws, it is difficult to call him a guardian of the rule of law. Someone who is a guardian of the rule of law cannot invalidate laws every Monday and Thursday.".
He added: "The Supreme Court rules according to the laws - what laws? Not the laws of the Torah, not the laws of physics, but the laws of the Knesset. In the US, according to the Constitution. The only ones who can change the Constitution or the Basic Laws are not the judges - it's the Parliament.".
Member of Knesset Dr. Shlomo Karei The Likud attacked the High Court hearing: "Israeli citizens are now watching a promo for every democracy's nightmare. A judicial authority is discussing basic laws and 'over-ruling' the votes of more than three million Israeli citizens. 11 political actors who were never elected are delegitimizing and 'testing' the judgment of an absolute majority of the people's elected officials. This is a black day for Israeli democracy.".
Knesset Member Yoav Kish From the Likud: "The results of the Knesset elections are clear. The decision of the factions and Knesset members today is clear. There were many concessions and compromises, but in the end, a coalition is being formed. The High Court of Justice in today's hearing actually elevated itself above the people and its representatives (regardless of the decision). The hearing today in the High Court is on the question of whether the High Court judges are 'prepared' to accept the decision of the people's elected representatives... hallucinatory.".
Diaspora Minister Tzipi Hotovely"The ones who are criticizing the legislature are the 11 judges - they didn't need to convene because the law is clear and explicit.".
