Bibi presses for compromise, but Knesset blitz goes on
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have refused to hold negotiations so far, with the opposition demanding the legislation first be frozen and the coalition rejecting any preconditions.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has increased pressure on Justice Minister Yariv Levin to seek a compromise on his legislation to radically reform Israel’s justice system, with the two meeting three times in recent days to discuss the matter, according to unconfirmed reports on Tuesday.
An unsourced Channel 12 report said Netanyahu warned the minister of the potential negative consequences of the current legislation on diplomacy, the economy, security and social cohesion, and said the plan must be softened.
This is despite Netanyahu selecting Levin as his justice minister knowing the package of proposals he would present, and publicly backing him over the past two months amid escalating opposition protests and warnings from economists, bankers, the tech sector, jurists and security personnel about the dire consequence of the overhaul for Israel’s democracy, international status, and internal unity.
The network said Levin expressed openness to changes, but stressed that he would not halt the legislative process or compromise on the core of the legislation in his eyes – changes to the Judicial Selection Committee to give the coalition majority control of appointments to the High Court.
Reports on the alleged meetings were also broadcast by other networks with many of the same details. The accounts came as protests against the overhaul have steadily intensified.
A new compromise proposal has emerged in recent days for which Levin has expressed enthusiasm, and which he has called “a breakthrough” in finding a compromise, Channel 12 reported.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have refused to hold negotiations so far, with the opposition demanding the legislation first be frozen and the coalition rejecting any preconditions.
Despite the unconfirmed reports of the compromise framework, the coalition was moving ahead on Tuesday with the current version of its overhaul program, saying it would start to prepare key elements of the plan next week for their final readings.
The bill would give the government full control over judicial appointments and ban the High Court of Justice from reviewing Basic Laws, as central pillars of the coalition’s push to curb the judiciary and give almost governing power to the political majority.
President Isaac Herzog said this week he was in the final stages of forming his compromise proposal after consultations with academics and civil society organisations on both sides of the ideological spectrum.
Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman’s heavily loaded schedule for hearings on the bill next week in preparation for its second and third readings indicates that he and Levin are set on passing the central pillars of the judicial overhaul before the end of the Knesset winter session on April 2, as they have said from the outset of the process.
In response to media reports about the possible format of a compromise solution on Tuesday, Rothman issued a joint statement together with Levin on Tuesday saying they would continue to try and reach an agreement on the issue while at the same time advancing the legislative process underway.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid replied that ostensible coalition readiness for compromise was manifestly “fictional” since the legislation was speeding ahead.
“First stop the legislation,” he urged. “They’re continuing to legislate even as they say, ‘dialogue, dialogue.’ It’s a fraud. They need to stop the legislation. The nation is being torn apart. The economy is falling apart. What is the matter with them?”
On Saturday, veteran Likud lawmaker Yuli Edelstein, a former Knesset speaker and one-time close confidant of Netanyahu, called on the government to pause the controversial package in order to give an opportunity for talks with the opposition.
TIMES OF ISRAEL
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