The Likud party sent a message to the justices of the Supreme Court this evening (Tuesday) following the first day of hearings on the petitions to strike down the Basic Law limiting the court's ability to apply the Reasonableness Standard.
"The most important element in a democracy is that the people are the sovereign," the party stated. "The Knesset receives its authority from the people. The government receives its authority from the Knesset. The court receives its authority from the Basic Laws that the Knesset enacts."
"If the court can cancel Basic Laws, it turns itself into a sovereign instead of the people. This extreme step will undermine the foundation of democracy."
They added: "This is a red line that must not be crossed."
The Yesh Atid party said in response to the Likud's statement: "The most important element in democracy is that the people are sovereign. Not the government. The sovereignty of the people is protected thanks to the separation of powers, checks and balances, and the protection of the court against the tyranny of the government. The Knesset does not have unlimited authority. It cannot legislate everything that comes to its mind. It cannot pass a law that cancels the elections for the next ten years."
"It cannot enact a law according to which those who did not serve in the army cannot vote. 61 MKs who won the elections cannot vote in three readings for the imprisonment of the 59 MKs who lost," they added.
"The Likud announcement is worrying and dangerous because it proves once again that the Israeli ruling party has lost its commitment to the democratic values on which the State of Israel is founded," the Yesh Atid statement concluded.