The High Court of Justice ordered Israel’s political parties Tuesday to make public every agreement they reached with other parties or individual politicians during coalition negotiations over the last six weeks.
"This information is essential for the existence of a democratic system," Justice Aharon Barak wrote in the court’s ruling. "The decency of public activity necessitates its exposure to the probing and cleansing sun."
The High Court acted on appeals from citizen groups which have expressed disgust and mistrust of the political deals, intrigues and bribery that have characterized the recent coalition-forming efforts.
The court decreed that no arrangements between parties, between Knesset members, or between parties and members can remain classified. All must be revealed by the time a new government is ready to be presented to the Knesset for approval.
It recommended that the Knesset quickly enact legislation that would embody the ruling into law.
Eliad Shraga, a 30-year-old activist for electoral reform who was one of the appellants, hailed the ruling. Now the public has the right to know "what has been done with its assets, its money, what its leaders are doing and what they promise each other," he said.
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