On Monday, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ordered Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to hold an election for his successor by Wednesday, deepening a standoff between opponents and supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Edelstein, of Netanyahu's Likud party, had dismissed the court's call to hold a vote for his successor. Last week he suspended parliamentary activities, citing procedural issues and restrictions on large gatherings due to the coronavirus.
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In her decision, Chief Justice Esther Hayut said, "The continued refusal to allow the vote in the Knesset plenum on the election of a permanent speaker is undermining the foundations of the democratic process."
The order exacerbates the country's deep political crisis while the longtime leader steers the country through the coronavirus outbreak and fends off a looming corruption trial.
The Knesset reconvened Monday after the Supreme Court ordered it to reopen for the selection of Edelstein's successor.
The opposition Blue and White party, which is backed by a slim majority in the newly-elected Knesset, said the country's legislature must continue to function at such a critical time. The party accused Edelstein of shuttering the halls of the legislature in order to keep his job and shield his beleaguered party leader.
"Democracy and law in Israel will be protected even if it's not comfortable for someone," Blue and White leader Benny Gantz said in a speech to the mostly empty chamber. Israel has strictly limited the size of public gatherings due to the coronavirus threat.
Blue and White is expected to choose a new speaker and use its parliamentary majority to push through legislation that could prevent Netanyahu from serving as prime minister in the future. The Likud party has accused Blue and White of relying on the votes of Arab members of parliament to "trample democracy" amid a national state of emergency and vowed to boycott a vote for a new speaker.
The Knesset on Monday voted 61-0 in favor of convening the key Arrangements Committee, which is authorized to create the Knesset's other decision-making committees. Netanyahu and his allies boycotted the parliamentary vote.
A panel of five judges chaired by Hayut had ordered Edelstein to announce by late Monday whether he planned to bring the selection of a new speaker up for a vote, or else they would be forced to rule against him.
In a harsh rebuttal, one of Netanyahu's closest surrogates, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, accused the court of "formally taking control of the Knesset" and turning its speaker into a rubber stamp.
"If Chief Justice Hayut wants to put herself above the Knesset, she is invited to arrive at the building with her guards and open the session herself. That way it will be clear we are witnessing a coup," he said.
Earlier, Netanyahu's justice minister had called on Edelstein to ignore the court's order.
Edelstein wrote in reply to the court that he will "not agree to an ultimatum" and that "a permanent Knesset speaker has never been elected at a time of such great uncertainty concerning the composition of a future coalition." He said he would not put the Knesset speaker vote on the agenda until the political situation becomes clearer.
"With all due respect, I cannot agree to the ultimatum presented to me and Israel's parliament to hold the session no later than March 25," Edelstein wrote on Twitter, saying that setting the legislature's agenda was the speaker's prerogative, not the court's.
The political crisis comes amid an aggressive outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Israel, with Netanyahu inviting his rivals into an emergency unity government in the wake of the country's third inconclusive election in less than a year.
In Israel, daily life has largely shut down with cases multiplying greatly over the past week, reaching nearly 1,450 people testing positive for the new virus. One patient has died and 29 are in serious condition.
Gantz has pledged to support the government in its effort to combat the virus. But he and his allies have been skeptical about Netanyahu's power-sharing overtures, concerned that he will not follow through on his promises to cede power in 18 months.
