Ex-deputy chief justice: ICC, UN clapping over gov’t tearing down judicial independence

"We are a democracy, but with the situation now, we are doing an injustice to this term, this was a knife in the back of democracy.”

 Benjamin Netanyahu in front of the ICC headquarters (illustrative). (photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS, Canva, PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW/REUTERS)
Benjamin Netanyahu in front of the ICC headquarters (illustrative).
(photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS, Canva, PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW/REUTERS)

The International Criminal Court and the UN are clapping over the government tearing down Israel’s judiciary’s independence with the law it passed early Thursday, former deputy chief Supreme Court justice Elyakim Rubinstein said on Thursday.

Speaking from the Meir Dagan Conference at the Netanya Academic College, Rubinstein said that he was “heart broken and felt a choking feeling” from the new law which is a paradigm shift in terms of empowering the political class to control future judicial appointments at the expense of the legal professional class.

Rubinstein has been known throughout his career as a moderate-conservative justice, having been appointed to run various commissions while Benjamin Netanyahu was Prime Minister and having worked for Likud founder Menachem Begin.

Next, the former deputy chief justice said that despite prior tense fights about government policies, he always said “we are a democracy…but with the situation now, we are doing an injustice to this term…this was a knife in the back of democracy.”

 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ministers in the Knesset plenum during the vote on the bill to amend the makeup of Israel's Judicial selection committee. March 27, 2025.  (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ministers in the Knesset plenum during the vote on the bill to amend the makeup of Israel's Judicial selection committee. March 27, 2025. (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Firing of Shin Bet chief

Further, Rubinstein said that the cabinet was wrong to attack the professional class of the government as some sort of disloyal “deep state” saying this “is a blood libel,” and that the bureaucracy is apolitical and should not be penalized for standing up for existing laws when the government wants to ignore those laws.  

He said that Netanyahu had the right and power to fire Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, especially in light of the October 7 disaster, but that the prime minister lacked the moral authority to do this in a time period when he was blocking any state inquiry into his own responsibility for failing to prevent the disaster.