All living former presidents of the Supreme Court issued a joint condemnation Monday of the government’s announcement a day earlier that it does recognize a ruling by the top court as valid, saying that refusing to respect or obey court decisions is “the last nail in the coffin of democracy.”

The five retired Supreme Court presidents — Aharon Barak, Dorit Beinisch, Asher Grunis, Esther Hayut and Uzi Vogelman — asserted that the government’s declaration would create legal anarchy.

“Such conduct completely undermines normal governance and law in the country. It will lead to anarchy and to the concentration of all governmental powers in the hands of a single body alone, and will make the existence of a functioning society impossible,” the former court presidents said.

The retired justices said that in order to avoid such results, the government should immediately announce that it is committed to obeying court rulings.

In a declaration issued by the cabinet on Sunday, the government vowed not to respect the High Court of Justice’s decision in June to enable the Council of the Second Authority, the commercial broadcasting regulatory body, to resume operations despite lacking a two-thirds quorum of members.

Using wording proposed by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the government stated that it would not recognize any decisions made by the council in its current status.

The government argued that the court order violates one of the provisions of the 1990 law for the Second Authority, and said, “The government has........

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