Israeli PM Netanyahu to take ‘active steps’ to move forward with judicial overhaul plan this week
Israeli PM and judicial overhaul protests
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday (June 18) said his government will pursue the contentious judicial overhaul this week after what he called "months wasted" over compromise talks with the opposition party lawmakers. Talks were stalled last week after the opposition parties demanded the formation of the key panel for selecting judges.
What did Netanyahu say about the proposed overhaul?
In televised remarks the Israeli PM, addressing his cabinet, said: “We gave a month and then another month and then another month - three months. Their (opposition) representatives did not agree to the most basic understandings. The intention was just to waste time.”
He added, “This week, we will begin the practical steps. We will do them in a measured way, responsibly, but in accordance with the mandate we received to make corrections to the justice system”.
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This comes as the proposed judicial overhaul, after months of protests and international criticism, was put on hold back in March when Netanyahu agreed to hold talks with the opposition.
However, the talks were stopped last week after the opposition leaders said negotiations would not move forward until the committee for the selection of judges which includes two politicians, three judges and two lawyers, is completed.
Israeli parliament vote last week
Last week, the opposition leaders had reportedly threatened to withdraw from negotiations with Netanyahu if their candidate, Karine Elharrar, was not named to the nine-member Judicial Appointments Committee to select the judges.
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In a surprising turn of events at the Israeli parliament or Knesset where Netanyahu’s Likud party holds 64 of the 120 seats, several coalition members from his government voted in favour of the opposition’s pick for the committee-- Elharrar of the Yesh Atid party-- whose appointment to the nine-member panel is now secure with a 58-56 vote.
The committee typically comprises lawmakers from both the coalition as well as the opposition but parts of the overhaul had demanded that the ruling coalition, in this case, Netanyahu’s Likud party, control both positions. However, this vote is being seen as a major blow to the Netanyahu government and exposed some divisions within the ruling coalition which has also raised questions about his control over his political allies.
Opposition leader responds to Netanyahu’s statement
In reference to the vote on June 14, Yair Lapid, the leader of the opposition party Yesh Atid, said that the Israeli PM cannot be certain of a majority after the secret ballot where his coalition members supported a candidate from the opposition.
“If Netanyahu goes ahead with the coup unilaterally as he has stated, he will find that he is the prime minister of less than half of the people of Israel, less than half the economy, less than half of the defence establishment and less than half of the Knesset,” said Lapid.
(With inputs from agencies)
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