JERUSALEM, Mar 7 (NNN-MA’AN) – Israel’s former prime minister, Yair Lapid, and former defence minister, Benny Gantz, yesterday urged Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to halt his judicial overhaul plan, which sparked massive protests, and open a dialogue.
“In order to have honest and effective dialogue that will lead to preserving democracy and national unity, Netanyahu must announce a complete, comprehensive, and actual halt to the legislative process,” Lapid and Gantz, leaders of two centrist opposition parties, said.
“Israel stands at the threshold of a national emergency and Netanyahu refuses to stop,” the two former leaders warned, adding that, every attempt to reach out and initiate talks with the religious-nationalist coalition government has failed.
Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the pro-settler Religious Zionism party and Israel’s finance minister, denounced the statement by Lapid and Gantz as “politically motivated.” In a statement, he said, the two wish to topple the government and are not interested in a real dialogue.
Earlier in the day, Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, also called for a dialogue. In a statement, he said, he has been working “behind the scenes” in an attempt to broker talks between the coalition and opposition, on the suggested reforms. According to Herzog, the two sides were “closer than ever” to reach a compromise agreement on the controversial reform.
Netanyahu’s new government, which was sworn-in in late Dec, is swiftly advancing a plan to overhaul the Israeli legal system.
The plan sparked the largest protests ever seen in Israel. Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets across Israel, for the past two months, protesting the government’s plans to put further limits on the Supreme Court and change the appointment of new judges.
According to Netanyahu, the overhaul is needed, in order to curb the overly activist Supreme Court, but critics fear that Netanyahu, who is facing an ongoing graft trial, wishes to gain excessive power over the legal system.
