Israel’s cabinet voted unanimously on Sunday to reject a Supreme Court order concerning the Second Authority for Television and Radio, the regulator of commercial broadcasting. The decision, tabled jointly by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, declares that the court’s interim injunction — which directed the authority’s council to continue operating despite having fallen below the legal membership threshold — contradicts explicit legislation and will not be recognised. The government stated it would “act through all legal means at its disposal to nullify the decision” and that any future actions taken by the council under the court’s protection would be void.

According to the government’s legal argument, the Second Authority Law requires a minimum quorum of members for the council to function, and the resignation of six members left it without the necessary composition. The court, in a ruling issued on 17 June, ordered the council to carry on while petitions challenging new appointments are reviewed. Karhi and Levin, both long-standing critics of judicial overreach, contend that judges cannot override a clear statutory provision. Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs later sought to soften the language, describing the vote as “sharp criticism” rather than a call for disobedience, but the formal resolution explicitly states that a ruling contradicting the law is null and that decisions made under it are without effect.

Reaction from across Israel’s institutional landscape was swift and severe. President Isaac Herzog said that “noncompliance with a court ruling is a red line that must not be crossed under any circumstances,” warning that such statements harm national unity. Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the government “criminal” and declared it the most serious constitutional crisis in the country’s history. Former prime minister Naftali Bennett said ignoring court orders “brings anarchy in the streets and the disintegration of our country.” The Attorney General’s office, through Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon, described the move as an attempt to “normalise systematic violation of the law” and warned it would intimidate those who comply with judicial decisions.

The dispute carries immediate regulatory consequences. The Second Authority oversees the sale of Channel 13, a network critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the classification of the right-wing, pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 as a “small channel,” which grants it regulatory exemptions. The court’s interim order froze the council’s activities while it examines petitions alleging that several new appointees, including chair Yifat Ben Hay-Segev, face unresolved conflicts of interest and were selected through a flawed process. The government had missed the court’s deadline to respond and instead requested an extension, a point critics cite as evidence that it is now seeking to bypass judicial review altogether. The standoff leaves civil servants and regulated entities facing a potential clash of authorities should the council attempt to exercise its powers under the court’s protection while the government insists those acts are legally void. The court’s final ruling on the petitions is pending, and no date has been set for its next session.