Israel’s Supreme Court Divides and Rules

There was no good reason for Israel’s Supreme Court to rush and every reason to wait. “United we win” is the ubiquitous slogan on the Israeli home front, where even bitter rivals have formed a wartime unity government. By acting now to quash the remnant of judicial reform, the court risks plunging Israel into the peacetime squabbles of Oct. 6—and the ruinous, provocative months that preceded it.

In an 8–7 decision on Monday, Israel’s court struck down the “reasonableness” law passed in July. This is the first time the court has overturned part of a Basic Law, akin to a constitutional amendment. It isn’t too much to call this Israel’s second “judicial revolution.”