There has never been a worse crisis in Israel’s democracy, or a greater need for reform

Many Israelis, particularly among the Jewish majority, feel a sense of apocalyptic doom today. It is not only a few days before Tisha B’Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, commemorating the destruction of the two holy temples in Jerusalem. It is also a time of immense political uncertainty in Israel.

The passage of the bill in the Knesset on Monday that prohibits the use of the standard of “extreme unreasonableness” in assessing government decisions is but the first of a series of proposed legislative acts that would strip...