Lavie petitions High Court of Justice: Obliges Lapid to bring agreement with Lebanon to Knesset approval

October 3, 2022   

The organization 'Lavi - Civil Rights, Proper Administration and the Encouragement of Settlement' submitted an urgent petition to the High Court of Justice today (Monday) against Yair Lapid, the Israeli government and the political and security cabinet, regarding the agreement that is being drawn up with the Lebanese government on offshore gas reserves and negotiations on the economic borders of Israel and Lebanon. The High Court ordered a response to the petition by October 27th. In a petition submitted through attorney Yitzhak Bem, the organization asks the government, among other things, to refrain from continuing and conducting any negotiations with Lebanon, directly or indirectly, as long as a transitional government is in office in Israel; not to sign, not even in initials, any agreement regarding the determination of the borders of Israel's exclusive economic zone at sea, as long as a government that does not enjoy the confidence of the Knesset is in office in Israel; and alternatively, to bring the agreement for approval by the Knesset. The 'Lavi' petition is being submitted approximately 48 hours after it was announced that the Israeli government submitted its final proposal to the Lebanese government regarding the determination of the northern border of its exclusive economic zone. This is within the framework of the American-mediated negotiations that Israel and Lebanon are holding on the borders of their respective economic zones in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, and after it became known that the Lebanese government had hardened its positions and that the Israeli government had agreed to go a long way toward it. According to the petition, Lapid announced that according to the legal advice, the agreement being drafted does not require the approval of the Knesset. The Knesset, while in Israel, the Attorney General's directive that required international agreements to be placed on the Knesset table was changed. However, according to the organization, "when it comes to a transitional government, it must refrain from signing and ratifying such an important international agreement, or from determining the boundaries of Israel's exclusive economic zone at sea, at least until it is placed on the table of the Knesset that will be elected and approved." In this context, the Lavie organization mentions that in the past, High Court judges have already discussed the issue of conducting political negotiations by a transitional government and ruled: "It is appropriate that the criticism of the outgoing government's decisions be made in the Knesset." The judges also wrote: "The parliamentary principle of Knesset oversight of the prime minister and the government continues to exist even during the term of a transitional government." The petition also mentions that the High Court of Justice ruled that oversight of political matters, as was also determined when former Prime Minister Barak negotiated at the end of his term on withdrawal from the Golan Heights, should be done by the Knesset and not by the court. Continuing the argument that the agreement should be brought to the Knesset, the organization adds: "Since this is a transitional government that does not enjoy the trust of the Knesset - and as such suffers from a lack of democratic legitimacy - it is not permitted to take irreversible steps that will bind the governments that will succeed it." According to the petition, "signing an agreement, or giving a commitment by the government, or making a decision by it, regarding the border of the Israeli exclusive economic zone, even without ratification of the agreement or commitment by the government, could constitute an irreversible step - let alone ratification of the agreement by the government." As you may recall, the Lavie Organization and Attorney Yitzhak Bem were the ones who petitioned the High Court of Justice against the appointment of retired Judge Mazuz to the committee for senior appointments, leading to the cancellation of the appointment.