Israel’s government is again trying to hobble its Supreme Court
以色列政府再次试图阻碍其最高法院

For nearly a year Israel’s Supreme Court has been without a president, as the country’s right-wing government has tussled with the judiciary over the court’s powers. As soon as it was elected at the end of 2022, the government of Binyamin Netanyahu presented plans for “judicial reforms” which would limit the powers of the Supreme Court and give politicians control of the appointment of judges. The proposals prompted huge protests and were abandoned when the war in Gaza began. But they are back on the agenda.
以色列最高法院在将近一年的时间里一直没有总统，因为该国的右翼政府一直在与司法部门争夺法院的权力。2022 年底当选后，本雅明·内塔尼亚胡政府立即提出了“司法改革”计划，该计划将限制最高法院的权力，并让政客控制法官的任命。这些提议引发了大规模抗议，并在加沙战争开始时被放弃。但他们又回到了议程上。

The justice minister, Yariv Levin, has provoked the new crisis. Mr Levin wants the judicial-appointments committee, which he co-chairs, to abandon the tradition whereby the senior serving judge on the Supreme Court is appointed president. His reason? He is determined to keep the current top judge, Yitzhak Amit, a vocal opponent of his reforms, from the job.
司法部长亚里夫·莱文（Yariv Levin）挑起了这场新的危机。莱文先生希望由他担任联合主席的司法任命委员会放弃由最高法院的资深在职法官被任命为院长的传统。他的理由是什么？他决心让公开反对其改革的现任最高法官伊扎克·阿米特（Yitzhak Amit）继续工作。

Having tried—and failed—to change the make-up of the committee, Mr Levin has refused to convene it since the previous president retired. The Supreme Court has now ordered him to present his candidate by September 22nd and then convene the committee. So far, he has refused to do so, accusing the judges of “an unlawful usurpation of the minister’s powers”.
莱文曾试图改变该委员会的组成，但未能成功，自从前任主席退休后，他一直拒绝召集该委员会。最高法院现在命令他在 9 月 22 日之前提出他的候选人，然后召集委员会。到目前为止，他一直拒绝这样做，指责法官“非法篡夺了部长的权力”。

Mr Levin and other members of Mr Netanyahu’s government have long sought to rein in what they regard as an activist court. In the past it has overridden government decisions and laws on grounds of constitutionality. With Israel now at war, the role of the Supreme Court has become even more contentious. It is the only forum where questions about how Israel is conducting the war, such as its obligations to supply humanitarian aid to the civilian population in Gaza and the treatment of prisoners, are being investigated, a fact that has not endeared it to hardliners in the governing coalition.
莱文和内塔尼亚胡政府的其他成员长期以来一直试图控制他们认为的激进法院。过去，它以合宪性为由凌驾于政府决定和法律之上。随着以色列现在处于战争状态，最高法院的角色变得更加有争议。这是唯一一个正在调查以色列如何进行战争的问题的论坛，例如它向加沙平民提供人道主义援助的义务和囚犯的待遇，这一事实并未受到执政联盟中强硬派的欢迎。

The court’s president has a crucial role in scheduling such hearings, and in appointing any national commissions of inquiry. So far Mr Netanyahu has withstood public pressure to create such a body. If the prime minister were to relent, perhaps to fend off his possible prosecution in the International Criminal Court, the president would decide who is on the commission.
最高法院院长在安排此类听证会和任命任何全国调查委员会方面发挥着关键作用。到目前为止，内塔尼亚胡顶住了公众压力，成立了这样一个机构。如果首相心软，也许是为了避免他可能在国际刑事法院受到起诉，总统将决定谁是该委员会的成员。

If Mr Levin persists in his obstructionism, the court could order the other committee members to convene without him. But that would be an unprecedented clash between the branches of government and could in turn provoke other ministers to defy legal rulings. That is already happening. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the hard-right politician in charge of the police, has proceeded with the promotion of a police officer accused of throwing a stun-grenade at protesters, despite instructions from the attorney-general and a court order to wait until an investigation is concluded.
如果莱文先生坚持阻挠，法院可以命令其他委员会成员在没有他的情况下召开会议。但这将是政府各部门之间前所未有的冲突，并可能反过来激怒其他部长无视法律裁决。这已经发生了。负责警察的极右翼政治家伊塔马尔·本-格维尔（Itamar Ben-Gvir）不顾总检察长的指示和法院命令等到调查结束，继续提拔一名被指控向抗议者投掷电击手榴弹的警官。

The government and court are also at odds over a ruling to draft rabbinical students into the army and end funding for their seminaries. This is a red line for the ultra-Orthodox parties in Mr Netanyahu’s coalition and his ministers are in no rush to carry out the court’s orders.
政府和法院在征召拉比学生参军并停止资助他们的神学院的裁决上也存在分歧。这是内塔尼亚胡联盟中极端正统派政党的红线，他的部长们并不急于执行法院的命令。

“The Supreme Court judges created this confrontation at a time of war,” insists Simcha Rothman, chair of the law committee in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament and one of the architects of the coalition’s judicial reforms. “Instead of trying to reach a compromise with the justice minister, they are forcing a vote. This constitutional crisis is on their heads.”
“最高法院的法官在战争时期制造了这种对抗，”以色列议会法律委员会主席、联盟司法改革的设计者之一西姆查·罗斯曼（Simcha Rothman）坚称。“他们没有试图与司法部长达成妥协，而是强迫投票。这场宪法危机落在他们的头上。

Others disagree. Yaniv Roznai, an expert in constitutional law at Reichman University in Tel Aviv, says: “Beneath the radar, while the guns are firing, the government is taking advantage of the lack of attention to legal issues to try once again to achieve the objective of the legal reform—power without limits.” ■
其他人不同意。特拉维夫赖希曼大学（Reichman University）的宪法专家亚尼夫·罗兹奈（Yaniv Roznai）说：“在雷达下，当枪声响起时，政府正在利用对法律问题漠不关心的机会，再次试图实现法律改革的目标——权力无限制。■

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