High Court showdown: Is Israel facing a constitutional crisis?

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Legal correspondent Jeremy Sharon joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

A low-level constitutional crisis is brewing, Sharon says, as Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Justice Minister Yariv Levin both said they won't respect a High Court of Justice ruling regarding the Second Authority, the regulatory body for commercial broadcast media and the proposed sale of Channel 13.

Sharon reports that President Isaac Herzog and opposition leaders immediately warned that when the government refuses to heed certain High Court decisions, it paves the way for other, more severe situations, such as electoral interference, and ultimately threatens Israel's democracy.

Sharon reports on another recent High Court decision that could also have led to a constitutional crisis, as the deputy court president ruled that the government must redo the election for the state comptroller following a suspicion of violations of ballot secrecy in the previous round.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Government defiance of High Court paves way for future disregard of the law

In first, government vows to disobey High Court ruling, setting up constitutional crisis

High Court rules state comptroller election violated ballot secrecy, must be held again

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.

IMAGE: Legal correspondent Jeremy Sharon appears on the Daily Briefing podcast with host Jessica Steinberg (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

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