A niche dispute over an Israeli communications regulator has exploded into a controversy so immense that lawmakers in the Knesset are invoking biblical narratives of exile and warning it could bring about an end to the country’s democratic system.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet is refusing to accept a ruling from the High Court of Justice demanding the Second Authority for Television and Radio, its federal communications regulatory body, resume operations. It is the first time that the Israeli government has refused to comply with a ruling from the High Court, with Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi calling the judges “drunk with power” and comparing them to a Talmudic monster.“After four years of a term in which I fought with all my might against the instigators of anarchy in the media and the judiciary, this week we brought an unprecedented decision to the government that returns the golem in the High Court to its natural place,” Karhi said on Monday.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is warning that “noncompliance with a court ruling is a red line that must not be crossed under any circumstances,” and opposition leaders are comparing the situation to tragedies such as the destruction of the Second Temple and the Holocaust.“If the government of Israel decides not to obey a Supreme Court ruling, from that moment every citizen is forced to ask himself: ‘Who do I obey? The government? The court?'” Naftali Bennett, former Israeli prime minister and leader of the Together party, said Monday. “And when there is no single answer, there is no single state. There is anarchy — chaos. That’s how they split Israel into two kingdoms.”
