document · Article
Likud behavioral democracy record — the 2023 judicial overhaul: the Likud-led government's plan (architected by Likud Justice Minister Yariv Levin) to curb Supreme Court judicial review; PM Netanyahu (Likud) said it would "strengthen democracy," while the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned it would "drastically undermine" the judiciary's check on executive and legislative power. Reported by JURIST (Feb 2023).
English 
Israel 2023-01-04 Tier 2 — primary or translation
Party: Likud
Original source: https://www.jurist.org/news/2023/02/un-urges-israel-to-pause-judicial-reform-plans-over-human-rights-concerns/
Content
Specifically, Türk said that the proposals would limit the Israeli Supreme Court’s ability to perform judicial review of legislation and would require either a super majority or unanimity of judges for the court to overturn legislation.
Netanyahu also dismissed Türk’s concerns and said the reforms would “strengthen democracy in Israel.”
Breaking from decades of settled practice, such a law would drastically undermine the ability of the judiciary to vindicate individual rights and to uphold the rule of law as an effective institutional check on executive and legislative power. English translation
[Source is in English; this field holds editorial context, not a translation.] Behavioral conduct-axis record of Likud on democracy / regime-stance: the 2023 judicial overhaul, the signature democracy-conduct episode of the Likud-led 37th government. The package of changes — to sharply limit the High Court of Justice's power of judicial review, give the governing coalition control of judicial appointments, and curb the authority of government legal advisers — was announced on 4 January 2023 by Likud Justice Minister Yariv Levin (its principal architect); Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu is prime minister. The quoted passage records UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk's February 2023 warning that the reforms would "drastically undermine" judicial checks on executive and legislative power, alongside Netanyahu's response dismissing the concerns and asserting the reforms would "strengthen democracy in Israel." On 24 July 2023 the coalition passed one element — Basic Law: The Judiciary (Amendment No. 3), abolishing the "reasonableness" standard for judicial review of government decisions — which the High Court struck down in January 2024; the overhaul triggered the largest sustained protest movement in Israel's history. [Axes: democracy (behavioral), regime-stance.]
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(Likud, 2023) Likud. (2023). Likud behavioral democracy record — the 2023 judicial overhaul: the Likud-led government's plan (architected by Likud Justice Minister Yariv Levin) to curb Supreme Court judicial review; PM Netanyahu (Likud) said it would "strengthen democracy," while the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned it would "drastically undermine" the judiciary's check on executive and legislative power. Reported by JURIST (Feb 2023).. jurist.org. Retrieved July 28, 2026, from https://www.jurist.org/news/2023/02/un-urges-israel-to-pause-judicial-reform-plans-over-human-rights-concerns/
Likud. 2023. "Likud behavioral democracy record — the 2023 judicial overhaul: the Likud-led government's plan (architected by Likud Justice Minister Yariv Levin) to curb Supreme Court judicial review; PM Netanyahu (Likud) said it would "strengthen democracy," while the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned it would "drastically undermine" the judiciary's check on executive and legislative power. Reported by JURIST (Feb 2023).." jurist.org. Accessed July 28, 2026. https://www.jurist.org/news/2023/02/un-urges-israel-to-pause-judicial-reform-plans-over-human-rights-concerns/.
@misc{doc-document-ab17c614-0cca-4e8c-962b-ed99363b76c0,
author = {{Likud}},
title = {Likud behavioral democracy record — the 2023 judicial overhaul: the Likud-led government's plan (architected by Likud Justice Minister Yariv Levin) to curb Supreme Court judicial review; PM Netanyahu (Likud) said it would "strengthen democracy," while the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned it would "drastically undermine" the judiciary's check on executive and legislative power. Reported by JURIST (Feb 2023).},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-01-04},
howpublished = {Online; hosted at jurist.org},
url = {https://www.jurist.org/news/2023/02/un-urges-israel-to-pause-judicial-reform-plans-over-human-rights-concerns/},
urldate = {2026-07-28},
note = {Retrieved via Tayyar at https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/documents/ab17c614-0cca-4e8c-962b-ed99363b76c0},
} Retrieved via Tayyar: https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/documents/ab17c614-0cca-4e8c-962b-ed99363b76c0 on July 28, 2026. Tayyar is a research host for primary sources, not the author of this document.