Efforts through a judicial overhaul to increase political control over Israel’s judiciary and civil service are simmering.

In March 2025, the Knesset passed a controversial law to change the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee. Its intent is to increase political influence by giving the governing coalition more control over judicial appointments, including the Supreme Court. The law is scheduled to take effect after the next Knesset election, currently set for October 2026. Until then, the existing committee requires a high degree of consensus for appointments, leading to potential deadlock.

The Knesset tried to eliminate the “reasonableness” standard, under which the Supreme Court may strike down laws and government actions for being unreasonable rather than violating Basic Laws or other statutes. The parliament passed a law in July 2023 to bar the Supreme Court from reviewing government decisions on the grounds of reasonableness, but the Supreme Court struck down that law in a landmark ruling in January 2024. That ruling was the first time the court invalidated a Basic Law section, and the government’s attempts to limit the court’s power in this area have since faced significant legal challenges.

In December 2025 at a conference of the Israeli Association for Public Law, two Israeli Supreme Court presidents, retired Aharon Barak and current Yitzhak Amit, spoke loudly on behalf judicial independence as vital for Israel’s democracy, state and people.

In January 2026, Israel’s governing coalition advanced new legislation aimed at eroding the independence of legal institutions. One bill would subordinate ministerial legal advisers to the ministries’ directors-general (political appointees), rather than the independent attorney general. Another bill would allow the government to appoint a civil service commissioner without a competitive, professional process, potentially politicizing civil service roles.

— Ken Stein, January 11, 2026

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