Israeli President Isaac Herzog proposed alternative modifications to the court in response to a far-right coalition makeover that has sparked weeks of protests. Still, Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected the new idea.
“Major elements of the framework he offered merely perpetuate the existing situation and do not bring the needed balance to the Israeli authorities,” Netanyahu tweeted. “Sad truth.”
Netanyahu’s hard-right government’s push to overhaul Israel’s judiciary has alarmed Western allies and enraged Israelis. The original plan would increase government influence in judge selection and limit the Supreme Court’s capacity to strike down legislation.
A reform of judge selection is a key sticking point.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin said the coalition’s proposals would give the Knesset greater control and the government more influence on the committee that appoints judges.
Herzog’s plan calls for a selection committee of three ministers, the high court president, two judges, and two city officials, agreed upon by the supreme court president and justice minister.
The president warned on Wednesday that Israel was at a turning point and claimed he had been meditating and consulting with “thousands of individuals” for weeks.
“Civil war is a red line,” the president remarked. “It won’t happen.” He stated Israel was “at a fork in the road” and “in the throes of a true catastrophe.”
He remarked, “Most Israelis desire a strategy that brings justice and peace.”
Yossi Fuchs, the government’s secretary, tweeted that the coalition opposed the president’s plan.
“The president’s strategy is one-sided and has not been agreed upon by any coalition member,” Fuchs added.
The Israeli president, whose job is mostly ceremonial, has been holding conversations recently to negotiate a compromise between coalition members and others who oppose the court changes. Still, he has not confirmed that legislators favor the idea.
Netanyahu and his religious-nationalist coalition allies have a legislative majority and want to balance government branches.
The Israeli prime minister cut his Berlin trip short. Last week’s tentative schedule stated he’d return on Friday. Instead, he returned on Thursday, according to the latest statement.
Many Hebrew media reports claimed that Netanyahu delayed his travel to Berlin while discussing possible revisions to the proposed judicial changes with coalition members.
Hundreds of demonstrators at the airport disrupted the prime minister’s journey to Berlin on Wednesday.
To “lead a process of legislation and conversation” over the intended judicial amendments, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich cut short a scheduled trip to Panama and returned to Israel on Wednesday evening.
