The constitutional crisis in Israel escalated on Monday afternoon after the High Court “requested” that outgoing Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein holds a vote on his successor by Wednesday.
The move, which the court made clear was not a ruling, came in response to a petition from opposition MKs who control a majority in the Knesset after this month’s election.
A new speaker would mean Benjamin Netanyahu’s government losing control of parliamentary business. At least one senior Likud minister has already called on the speaker to defy the High Court.
Despite having received the signatures of the 61 Knesset members last week calling for a vote on a new speaker, Mr Edelstein has refused to allow it, arguing that the law stipulates a vote has to be held only as soon as a new government is sworn in.
He was elected speaker by the Knesset last April and there have been two elections since then, but the outgoing speaker remains in charge of procedure until a new one is elected.
Mr Edelstein said he was not holding the vote because there talks were ongoing between Likud and Blue & White on forming a national unity government, and an opposition speaker would harm these talks.
On Saturday night, Mr Netanyahu said an opposition Knesset speaker would be “unthinkable” and prevent any chance of forming a national unity government. Blue & White leader Benny Gantz said he favoured such a government but added: “whoever wants unity doesn’t work with ultimatums and targeted leaks.”
Israel’s most senior judges sat on Sunday to hear the opposition petitions for Mr Edelstein to hold the vote immediately. They also heard the opinion of the Attorney General, who contradicted the speaker and said the vote should be held without delay.
On Monday afternoon, in a terse decision, the justices “requested, without issuing a ruling” that Mr Edelstein inform them whether he intends to hold the vote by Wednesday.
Neither Mr Edelstein or Mr Netanyahu responded immediately, but Justice Minister Amir Ohana tweeted: “if I was the Knesset Speaker I would answer ‘no’” and Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, described in circles as the prime minister’s political “enforcer”, wrote on Facebook: “the court has officially taken over the Knesset and from today turned the Knesset speaker into a rubber stamp.
“There is no such thing in any democracy. I am calling upon the Knesset speaker to announce that only he will decide when there is a session and what is on the agenda.
If the [Supreme Court] president [Esther] Hayut wants to put herself over the Knesset, she is invited to come to the building with the court’s guards and open the session herself.”
Mr Ohana is already on the record as having said, last June, that there are cases in which High Courts rulings do not need to be followed. On that occasions Mr Netanyahu contradicted him in a statement saying: “the court’s decisions oblige all of us.”
