以最高法否决削弱其权力的司法改革

Israel's Supreme Court says the government cannot limit the court's power after all.

以色列最高法院表示，政府终究无法限制法院的权力。

By a narrow majority, the court struck down a law that was designed to curtail the court's own authority.

以色列最高法院以微弱多数否决了一项旨在限制最高法院权力的法律。

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition passed a law last year.

以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡领导的联合政府去年通过了一项法律。

The effort united his right-wing government but divided Israeli society at large.

这一努力将他领导的右翼政府团结在一起，但却分裂了整个以色列社会。

It was the reason for massive protests in the months before the start of the war against Hamas.

这也是哈马斯战争开始前几个月发生大规模抗议的原因。

NPR's Daniel Estrin is in Tel Aviv now to tell us more about this. Daniel, good morning.

NPR新闻的丹尼尔·埃斯特林将从特拉维夫带来详细报道。丹尼尔，早上好。

Good morning, Michel.

早上好，米歇尔。

So would you just start by reminding us about what this law was all about?

你能不能先告诉我们这项法律到底是怎么回事？

Yeah, it was the No. 1 focus of the right-wing government when it came to power in Israel a year ago.

好，这是一年前以色列右翼政府上台执政时的首要关注点。

And the idea was that the government wanted to strip the Supreme Court of some of its powers.

当时的目的是，以色列政府想剥夺最高法院的一些权力。

This is the most right-wing religious nationalist government in Israel's history, and it saw the Supreme Court as too left-wing, too protective of Palestinian rights, and said the government should be the one to rule - let the elected officials rule - accusing the court of too much interference.

这是以色列历史上最偏右的宗教民族主义政府，这个政府认为最高法院太偏左了，过于保护巴勒斯坦人的权利，而且认为应该由政府来裁决——让民选官员来裁决——指责最高法院干预过多。

And this attempt to overhaul the judiciary sparked historic protests in Israel, hundreds of thousands of people in the streets, demonstrators accusing the government of weakening Israel's democracy.

全面改革司法系统的尝试在以色列引发了历史性的抗议活动，成千上万的人走上街头，示威者指责政府削弱以色列的民主。

But the government passed this law anyway this summer.

但以色列政府还是在夏天通过了这项法律。

It stripped the court of one of its powers, to overturn government appointments.

这项法律剥夺了最高法院的一项权力，一项推翻政府任命的权力。

And why did the court strike it down? What grounds did it give for this?

最高法院为何否决了这项法律? 最高法院给出的理由是什么?

The court says that this law was a, quote, "severe and uNPRecedented harm" to the core character of Israel as a democratic country and said the government does not have omnipotent powers.

最高法院表示，这项法律对以色列作为一个民主国家的核心特征造成了“严重和前所未有的伤害”，最高法院还表示政府并没有无所不能的权力。

This is a landmark ruling in Israel.

这是以色列具有里程碑意义的裁决。

It's the first time the Supreme Court has overturned the equivalent of a constitutional amendment.

这是最高法院首次推翻与宪法修正案相当的法律。

And it is a big blow to Netanyahu and to his right-wing allies because this judicial overhaul was the No. 1 main agenda of the government.

这对内塔尼亚胡和他的右翼盟友来说是一个沉重的打击，因为司法改革是这个政府的首要议程。

And is there any way in which this decision might play into Israel's handling of the war in Gaza?

这一裁决是否会对以色列处理加沙战争产生影响?

Well, the Israeli government now, we hear officials - they're not very happy with this ruling, but they suggest that they're not going to do anything further to overhaul the judiciary while the country is at war.

我们了解到以色列政府官员对这一裁决不太满意，但他们表示，在国家处于战争状态的情况下，他们不会进一步改革司法体系。

They recognize it's too divisive of an issue at this time of war.

他们认识到，在战争时期，这个问题太易于造成分裂。

But it does add fuel to what we are hearing is a growing discontent in Israel about the war, about the government's role in this catastrophic situation Israel is facing.

但这确实增加了以色列国内对这场战争、对政府在以色列面临的灾难性局势中所扮演的角色的日益不满。