Avi Shoshan Urges Focus on Judiciary in Upcoming Israeli Elections

Avi Shoshan, a political commentator, sharply criticized a recent Israeli Supreme Court ruling during a Channel 14 broadcast on Tuesday. The ruling, issued by Justices Yitzhak Amit, Alex Stein, and Ruth Ronen, stated that public officials who act against judicial decisions could lose their personal immunity from civil lawsuits. This decision arose from petitions challenging appointments made by the Minister of Communications to the Second Authority Council. The judges emphasized that disobeying court orders undermines the rule of law and warned that immunity protections might not apply to officials defying the judiciary.

Shoshan described the ruling as a drastic change to democratic norms, claiming it crosses a "red line" where citizens effectively lose their rights and votes become meaningless. However, he cautioned the government against openly defying the court before the elections, warning such actions could provoke chaos and mass protests reminiscent of a "Galant night," a reference to a past political crisis. He stressed that breaking the rules now would be the worst outcome for the government.

Concluding his remarks, Shoshan called on the Likud party and the national camp to center their election campaigns on judicial reform. He argued that the public should be fully aware that the upcoming elections will be fundamentally about the judiciary and the proposed reforms, rather than trivial campaign materials. Shoshan's comments highlight the judiciary's central role in Israel's political discourse ahead of the 2026 elections.