Former Israeli Supreme Court chief issues unprecedented warning: Israel’s democracy is collapsing

Pars Today – The former chief of Israel’s Supreme Court stated that Tel Aviv is moving toward a concentration of power and the weakening of oversight institutions.

Aharon Barak, the former head of Israel’s Supreme Court, said in an unusually blunt and unprecedented statement that Israel no longer possesses the characteristics of what he described as a “liberal democracy,” and that its political structure is moving toward a concentration of power and the weakening of oversight institutions.
These remarks come three years after the controversial speech by justice minister Yariv Levin on so-called “judicial reforms.”

According to Pars Today, Barak said on Saturday evening at a large protest rally in Habima Square in Tel Aviv, before thousands of demonstrators, that the erosion of democracy in Israel was not the result of a sudden event, but rather the outcome of a gradual process in which the fundamental elements of the democratic system have come under a “severe attack.”
He added that this trend has led to the continuous weakening of the mechanisms of checks and balances and oversight.

Describing the current state of Israel’s political system, he said: “The existing system of governance amounts to the rule of a single political body that is effectively run by one individual.” He stressed that the prime minister controls both the government and the Knesset, and that this concentration of power threatens the foundations of democracy.
Barak also warned that, to complete this cycle of power, the government is seeking to rein in the judiciary—an institution which, he said, is “the only body capable of overseeing those in power.”

He added that the focus of the proposed reforms on the process of appointing judges and on restricting the Supreme Court’s authority to strike down laws is a clear indication of an attempt to replace the “rule of law” with the “rule of power over the law.”
In another part of his remarks, he referred to the state of law enforcement and the treatment of protesters, saying that the relationship between the political level and the police has been seriously disrupted, and that the handling of demonstrators has been unequal and disproportionate.

Barak also criticized violations of the principle of equal citizenship, citing a declaration he described as Israel’s “Declaration of Independence,” and pointed to issues such as the widespread exemption of Haredim from military service and structural discrimination against the Arab community.

However, Barak stressed that the responsibility for curbing this trend does not rest solely with the judiciary, and that only society and public opinion can prevent its continuation. He concluded by warning that liberal democracy in Israel is eroding, and that preserving it will require active civic engagement.

This report was published in full by the Hebrew-language outlet Maariv and has sparked widespread reaction across the regime’s political and media spheres.