Is the Opposition using judicial reforms as pretext to force elections?

 

Last week, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, one of the main architects of the reforms, met with several prominent public figures who drafted a reform compromise proposal. Levin responded favorably to the outline, with sources from his office reportedly calling it a “breakthrough” and the “first outline that goes outside the box.”

 A day earlier, Levin and MK Simcha Rothman, another principal advocate of the reforms who chairs the Knesset Law Committee that is dealing with the legislation, accepted a proposal by the Israel Manufacturers Association, the Chambers of Commerce and groups representing tech companies and building contractors for talks starting at the President’s Residence without preconditions.

 “From the very first day we said we were in favor of a dialogue in an attempt to reach an understanding on the reform and at least to reduce the controversy,” the leaders of the reform said in a joint statement. “We respond to the call for talks without preconditions and call on others in the opposition to respond to the initiate and attend talks with the president on Tuesday.”

Opposition leaders swiftly rejected the proposal.

 Lapid and Gantz rejected the overture and conditioned any negotiations on the government freezing the accompanying legislative process.

President Isaac Herzog last Monday told a gathering of some 100 municipal officials that a compromise judicial reform proposal was nearly complete, and called on lawmakers to find common ground.

“I have already said that it is absolutely legitimate to discuss reforming the judicial system, and aspects of the proposal are indeed advisable. In the last few weeks, I have done everything in my power to bring about discussion and enable the sides to reach an agreement,” said Herzog.

“We are closer than ever to the possibility of an outline. There are agreements behind the scenes on most things,” he continued. “Now it depends on our national leadership, the coalition and the opposition, who need to rise to the occasion and understand the terrible alternative and put the country and its citizens above everything else.”

Will the opposition leaders stand up and be counted? Watch this space