The government on Sunday stepped over a line that many cabinet ministers have threatened, and even vowed, to cross for months if not years: openly declaring that it does not accept a ruling of the High Court of Justice.

In a dramatic joint statement, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Justice Minister Yariv Levin announced that the government would not accept the results of a High Court ruling in June which undercut Karhi’s efforts to assert control over the Council of the Second Authority, an independent broadcast media regulation body.

In the actual text of the cabinet declaration, the government stated that it would use all tools at its disposal to undo the court’s decision, and would not accept as valid any decisions made by the Second Authority under the terms of the High Court ruling.

The government’s decision is certainly a watershed moment. No government has ever openly declared that it will not respect a High Court decision, although the current government has frequently approached that line, and even crossed it less blatantly on several occasions.

Despite the uproar that the unprecedented declaration created, the actual legal impact of the announcement on the Second Authority council will likely not be especially significant.

But the declaration may still exert pressure on the council not to defy the government.

And critically, the very fact that the government stated publicly that it does not see a High Court ruling as valid and binding is a dangerous precedent which lays the ground for disobeying other court decisions.

Although the government makes appointments to the Second Authority council, it has no authority over the panel’s decisions since it is an independent, statutory body.

The court’s decision in June did not actually order the government to do anything, but rather gave instructions to the Second Authority as to how to act.

Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, said that there........

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