Herzog Urged Not to Sign Judicial Reform Laws If They Come to Him

By Yisrael Price

YERUSHALAYIM — President Isaac Herzog has been playing the role of peacemaker in the ongoing judicial crisis, but on Thursday he was called upon to take sides.

In a public letter signed by over 400 former Israeli security officials, Herzog was urged to withhold his signature from any law that would cause harm to the independence of the country’s judiciary.

“Consider carefully before you sign laws that contradict the country’s Jewish-national and democratic-progressive character as laid out in the Declaration of Independence — for this purpose you have been given the authority to sign laws as a condition for them taking effect,” the letter read, addressing Herzog.

In Israel, the president fills a largely symbolic role, which includes the task of formally signing laws passed by the Knesset before they go into effect. No president has ever refused to sign a law, and a constitutional scholar told The Times of Israel on Thursday that such a refusal would likely not matter.

“The president’s signature is symbolic, and it is not considered as if the president has any discretion in the matter,” said Dr. Guy Lurie of the Israel Democracy Institute. “While the issue is hypothetical, it has formerly been speculated by jurists that in such a case the court may rule that the law is in force without the president’s signature.”

Prominent among the signatories were former Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman, former Mossad directors Tamir Pardo and Danny Yatom, ex-police commissioner Shlomo Aharonishki and former national security adviser Uzi Arad.

Meanwhile, organizers of the protests against the government’s judicial overhaul have declared Monday as a “national day of struggle,” entailing another large rally outside the Knesset, marches in various cities and the closure of some businesses.

The demonstrations are timed to coincide with a vote in the Knesset to advance a highly contentious bill that would allow the parliament to overturn High Court decisions to strike down duly passed laws.

Histadrut chief Arnon Ben-David said again that the labor federation will not join in the strike, called on the opposing sides to sit down together and talk, as President Herzog has been trying to get them to do.

Bar David told Reshet Bet: “There is enormous pressure on me to join the strike. I have to choose my battles.”