The High Court of Justice decided to reject a petition that sought to cancel party funding for a party that does not include women, or in other words – for the Haredi parties. The petition was filed by Ruth Kolyan, who was represented by attorney Ginat. Kolyan herself, according to her, tried to run on the Shas list in the municipal elections in Petah Tikva, but Shas refused to allow her to run.
In the reasoning for the ruling, Judge Noam Solberg wrote: "We are meant to judge in court, not to legislate. The task of judging includes exercising judicial review, including constitutional review, but it is not for the court to determine the wisdom of the law, whether it is good, effective, justified, or whether there is a better legislative arrangement.".
Solberg further says that even if the petitioner is right in her claim, the Supreme Court is not the address, but the Knesset: "This is to remember and remind, the need to respect the laws of the Knesset. To the right of legislation stands the presumption of constitutionality. In its legislation, the Knesset expresses the will of the people's elected representatives. The balance between the principles of majority rule and separation of powers and the protection of human rights requires caution and restraint in interfering with the policy chosen by the legislator. The Knesset has spoken, and we, in the court, must refrain from reshaping the policy.".
The IFA court rejected the petition, stating, "The doctrine of separation of powers obliges us as a court to return the petitioner's case to the Knesset, and refer it to the Knesset." President Grunis and Justice Meltzer concurred in Solberg's ruling.
Attorney Moshe Morgenstern, who represented the Haredi parties, said in response to the Haredim10: "The court's decision is welcome and appropriate. There was no place for the vexatious petition. It is impossible to force the Haredi public against its will, it is not possible in a democratic country to force parties to admit women against their will. The Haredi public acts on the orders of its elders, and God forbid, not by harming women.
"It's a shame that the petitioner is once again trying to build on the backs of the Haredi public and the Haredi parties, with repeated petitions, and the court did well to reject the petition.".
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