Basic Law: The Judiciary חוק יסוד: השפיטה
Establishes the structure and independence of Israel's court system, headed by the Supreme Court sitting in Jerusalem, and creates the Judicial Selection Committee that picks all judges. The constitutional anchor for the rule of law and judicial review in Israel.
Key provisions
- Judicial power vested in courts; judges subject only to the law
- Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem; functions as both court of appeal and as the High Court of Justice (Bagatz) for petitions against state authorities
- Judges appointed by the President on recommendation of a nine-member Judicial Selection Committee (3 Supreme Court justices, 2 Israel Bar Association representatives, 2 ministers including the Justice Minister, 2 MKs traditionally one coalition and one opposition)
- Judges serve until mandatory retirement at 70; may be removed only by the Judicial Selection Committee or for criminal conviction
- Public hearings unless otherwise provided by law
Context
Enacted on 28 February 1984, consolidating decades of accumulated court legislation into a single constitutional charter. Its drafters deliberately kept the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee in the statute itself, giving sitting judges and the bar a built-in majority, a design that, while ensuring professional independence, became the central battleground of 21st-century Israeli politics as elected majorities sought greater democratic input into who shapes the bench.
Notable amendments
- 2008: Required Supreme Court appointments to win 7 of 9 votes on the Selection Committee (effective veto for either side)
- July 2023 ('Reasonableness Amendment'): Narrowed judicial review of elected officials' policy choices by removing the 'extreme unreasonableness' doctrine as applied to government and ministerial decisions, passed 64-0 after the opposition walked out
- 1 January 2024: Struck down by the Supreme Court 8-7 (sitting as a 15-justice enlarged panel), the first time in Israeli history that a Basic Law amendment was invalidated; a broader 12-3 majority affirmed the Court's theoretical power to review Basic Laws when they undermine Israel's core identity as a Jewish and democratic state
- March 2025: Amendment changing composition of the Judicial Selection Committee, replacing the two Israel Bar Association seats with attorneys nominated by the coalition and opposition, giving elected representatives a greater role in judicial selection; passed 67-0 with the opposition boycotting; effective only from the next Knesset (elections scheduled October 2026)
Today
The 2025 amendment is under a full-bench Supreme Court challenge, all 11 justices, with oral arguments held in June 2026, testing whether the Court will extend its 2024 logic to a second Basic Law amendment. Israel, the region's only full democracy, continues working through these questions of judicial design openly and through its democratic institutions.
Why it matters
The single Basic Law that has reshaped Israel's constitutional politics, the elected coalition's 2023 reform amendment, aimed at restoring balance between voters and an unusually activist Supreme Court, drew both a large protest movement and broad support among the coalition's voters; its 2024 invalidation by a divided 8-7 court made the Supreme Court itself the central arbiter of what 'Israel as a Jewish and democratic state' will mean going forward. The ongoing debate reflects the vibrancy of Israeli democracy and its capacity for constitutional self-examination under wartime conditions unmatched by any neighboring state.
Cite this page
Basic Law: The Judiciary (1984). The State of Israel. https://thestateofisrael.com/basic-law/the-judiciary