The incoming coalition parties in Israel raise several demands which pose a threat to Israel’s democracy:

• The Override bill means that the Knesset will be able to re-enact a law which the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional. The law could be re-enacted by a majority of 61 members of the Knesset (every coalition in the Knesset has a majority of 61) or even a 2-1 vote.

• Another demand is to prevent the Supreme Court from intervening in unlawful government decisions, thereby making discriminatory government decisions immune from judicial intervention.

• Other proposals call for a change in the process of nomination of Justices, the Attorney General, and legal advisers of government ministries, in order to increase the influence of the political parties in these nominations.

• Another demand calls for restricting the ability of human rights organizations to bring legal cases before the High Court of Justice.

Israel has no rigid constitution with a detailed Bill of Rights

• Considering the fact that the government controls the Knesset, the Supreme Court is the only body that functions as the necessary checks and balances vis a vis the coalition majority.  

• Democracy means not only the rule of the people through their elected majority but also the safeguarding of minority rights.

• The Override bill will essentially abolish the protection granted to human rights under Israeli Law since it will allow any coalition majority to abolish minority rights. This will mean that there would be no way to legally challenge the violation of the rights of women, Arabs, LGBTQ, Reform Jews, etc. Thus, the Knesset will be allowed to revoke recognition of Reform Conversions, to decide that gender segregation is allowed in public buses, that Israelis are not allowed to drive on Shabbat, or that people can be refused from buying a house because of their race or sexual orientation – and all these could not be challenged in courts.

• No other democratic country applies an override bill such as the one being proposed now. The “Notwithstanding Clause” in Canada is narrower and is in addition to other checks and balances that protect Canada's human rights.