Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi announced that he does not recognize the authority of the Israeli court. The Likud minister stated that he embodies all three of these roles: he is the legislator, the enforcer of the law, and its sole authorized interpreter. Prime Minister Netanyahu did not respond to the blatant threat to democracy.

The minister wrote in his announcement that the order issued by the court to extend the term of two members of the Public Broadcasting Corporation board is "illegal," "issued without authority and contrary to the law," "unfounded and devoid of legal basis," "void, non-binding, and meaningless." The minister also emphasized that the source of authority is himself: "I determine that there is a constitutional impediment to its implementation due to a serious violation of the separation of powers and the foundations of democracy," he wrote.

The tantrum was also directed at the two members of the board whose terms were extended. "Extreme leftists," Karhi stated. The two members are Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson, former president of the Hebrew University and former Knesset member for Kadima and Chairman of the Constitution Committee; and Michal Rafaeli Kaduri, former VP of Regulation at YES and Chairman of the Council for Cable and Satellite Broadcasting.

The confused and aggressive announcement revolves around a decision issued today (6.1) by Supreme Court Justices Yitzhak Amit, Noam Solberg and Dafna Barak Erez. The NGO Hatzlaha, through attorney Elad Man, petitioned to extend the terms of two members of the Public Broadcasting Corporation's board of directors who have completed their terms, so that the board meets the minimum composition required by law to be able to continue operating.

The Public Broadcasting Corporation operates Kan 11, the Kan Bet network and more. The council members are selected by an Appointments Committee headed by a retired judge, in order to sever political ties from the media body. However, Minister Karhi, upon taking office, announced that he wanted to eliminate public broadcasting in Israel and take control of its budgets, and that he did not recognize the corporation's journalistic independence.

In order to carry out his plan, Karhi tried, alongside failed legislative attempts, to appoint a political appointee to the position of chairman of the Appointments Committee. This would have allowed him to control the appointments to the council. However, the person he chose for the position, retired judge Moshe Drori, resigned from his position after a petition was filed against his appointment due to his questionable past.

And so, last November the expected retirement of five members of the corporation's council arrived, without there being an active Appointments committee that could find replacements. This was despite the fact that almost two years had passed since Karhi was appointed to the position of minister. However, Karhi wanted to take advantage of the paralysis he had imposed on the council in order to harm the corporation, and sought to transfer the management of the corporation to the Second Authority for Television and Radio, A body subject to political influence.

Therefore, Karhi refused the necessary temporary solution: extending the terms of two of the council members whose first term has ended (tenure on the council is limited to two terms). The High Court of Justice, in response to a Hatzlaha petition, today ordered the extension of the terms of the two members, Ben Sasson and Rafaeli Kaduri, until the petition is decided or until new council members are elected, "in order to enable the corporation's council to exercise its powers according to the law and so that the proper operation of the corporation is not harmed."

Karhi, in his unbridled response to the court's decision, did not content himself with merely declaring that he is the sole determiner of what the law is and what its interpretation is, but also added metaphysical babbling steeped in logical contradiction: According to Karhi, once the number of council members falls below the quorum established by law, it "does not exist" and "therefore I do not have the authority to appoint a deputy chairman of the council, nor will I."

The minister sealed His aggressive message by calling on other ministers in Netanyahu's government to take revenge on both the legal system and the public broadcasting corporation. Karhi called on Justice Minister Yariv Levin to change the composition of the committee for selecting judges so that the government would control the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court, and called on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to "stop budgets" for the broadcasting corporation.

The current statement of Karhi has one meaning: the abolition of the separation of powers in Israel. The response of the enforcement authorities to Karhi's decision to violate the High Court ruling, if he sticks to it, will be a significant milestone in the question of whether the State of Israel will continue to be a democracy.