Judicial talks resume amid storm of criticism
In a joint statement, the Yesh Atid and National Unity parties stressed that while dialogue is the only solution, "We made it clear that continuing with talks is conditional upon the possibility of making progress."
Judicial reform compromise talks resumed on Tuesday at the President’s Residence, with opposition parties closing the day’s negotiations with a statement saying the discussions are the “only possibility” for finding a solution to the political crisis.
They conditioned their continued participation on ending attempts to change the system of governance, as the Justice Minister reportedly urged cabinet members to push for irreversible changes to the justice system.
In a joint statement, the Yesh Atid and National Unity parties stressed that while dialogue is the only solution, “We made it clear that continuing with talks is conditional upon the possibility of making progress.”
The parties also conditioned talks on “commitment to the process inside and outside the room, and on stopping the sword of the judicial coup with a clear commitment that there is no legislation that leads to a change of the regime in Israel”.
Before taking off for Azerbaijan on Tuesday, President Isaac Herzog said compromise was still possible.
“This demands effort, goodwill, leadership,” he said, “and I recommend ignoring background noise, to think about the strategic goal, which is, in the end, the welfare of Israel”.
“No one is selling out values,” the President continued, “no one is harming core principles, but on the other hand, it is good and desirable to debate the boundaries of the different branches in Israel.”
Anti-overhaul critics of the negotiations say that they provide cover for the coalition to continue pursuing legislation in the meantime, while right-wing critics say they are unnecessary because the coalition should unilaterally wield its legislative weight.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recorded telling his Likud party to not believe reports that their plan to curtail judicial power would be shelved, telling the party that the plan was “not dead”.
In addition to Netanyahu, Justice Minister Yariv Levin has continued to hold backroom conversations on the legislative agenda, while overhaul champion MK Simcha Rothman said on Tuesday that compromise talks were “meaningless”.
Levin told fellow ministers that their current hard-right coalition is an opportunity “not to be missed”, in that they could pass a complement of judicial changes “in such a way that it’s impossible to reverse them”, according to Channel 13.
Protest leaders released a statement on Tuesday lambasting Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, the leaders of Yesh Atid and National Unity, respectively, for continuing to engage in the talks, and urged them to quit them immediately.
The statement added that the Netanyahu government is “dragging us down a direct path to dictatorship” by planning legislation that will increase political power at the expense of judicial independence.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated nationwide against the overhaul plan for the 21st week on Saturday night, days after Netanyahu said the legislation would return to the agenda following the recent passage of the contentious state budget.
Protests were staged across the country, with the main demonstration taking place on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv. Channels 12 and 13 reported that some 80,000 were at the rally.
Thousands also participated in rallies in Jerusalem, Beersheba, Ra’anana, Kfar Saba, Netanya, Hod Hasharon, Ness Ziona, Rehovot, Zichron Yaakov, Karmiel and Karkur.
TIMES OF ISRAEL
comments