No tangible progress made
Levin said if the ongoing compromise talks brokered by Herzog do not prove fruitful, he wants to move ahead with the legislation regardless
Negotiators working to find a cross-partisan consensus on reform to Israel’s judiciary received a surprise guest on Tuesday – President Isaac Herzog, who interrupted the closed discussions to urge a breakthrough.
Herzog’s official residence has hosted talks between the coalition and opposition over the past six weeks, but he has stepped back from facilitating the process.
“It’s money time,” the President told assembled negotiators, according to his office.
Despite nearly two months of ongoing talks between teams representing the coalition and the opposition’s two biggest parties, no real progress has been made, according to sources close to the issue.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin is reportedly threatening to exit the government unless at least some of its judicial overhaul legislation is passed before the Knesset adjourns at the end of July. Levin said if the ongoing compromise talks brokered by Herzog do not prove fruitful, he wants to move ahead with the legislation regardless, once the state budget has been passed, Channel 12 reported last weekend.
Levin – a key architect of the government’s plan to exert greater political control over the judiciary – reportedly told his associates that if nothing is advanced in the next two months, “what reason do I have to be in the government?”
According to the report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is eager to finish the current Knesset session – which ends on July 30 – without bringing any of the highly contentious legislation back to the parliamentary floor. It is unclear whether he will be forced to appease Levin and other similarly minded members of his coalition. After rushing a range of legislation through the Knesset, Netanyahu announced in late March a pause to the bills over the Passover break, to allow for compromise talks aimed at reaching a broad agreement.
Meanwhile, demonstrations on Saturday were held for the 19th straight week against the government’s controversial judicial reforms, though turnout was far lower than usual after protest organisers cancelled official rallies in the south and centre of the country due to ongoing fighting between Israel and Gaza terrorists.
In Tel Aviv, where the main rally tends to attract over 100,000 people weekly, several hundred protesters gathered at Dizengoff Square for a march down Kaplan Street, according to the Ynet news site.
The crowd later swelled, and blocked Azrieli Junction, where police tried to disperse them.
In northern Israel, 5000 marched in a rally in Haifa, and around 1000 people rallied at Nahalal Junction. Smaller rallies were held in other towns and interchanges as well.
TIMES OF ISRAEL
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