Bill to erase judicial ‘reasonableness’ test for politicians passes 1st reading

With protests bearing down on them inside and outside the Knesset’s walls, lawmakers early on Tuesday passed the first reading of a controversial bill to block judicial review over the “reasonableness” of politicians’ decisions.

The vote marked the first approval of a judicial overhaul bill since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended the far-reaching overhaul legislative package in late March.

The bill passed by a vote of 64 to 56 after a long, stormy session at the Knesset in Jerusalem that began on Monday evening and wrapped up after midnight. READ MORE