5 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Israeli Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, stressed this Sunday that the Government does not plan to paralyze “not even a minute” the processing of the controversial judicial reform, which has been questioned by some of the country’s main authorities, including the president, Isaac Herzog.
Levin has criticized in a televised interview those who seek to “put sticks in the wheels”, pointing out that reforms like this are “fundamental”. In this sense, he has affirmed that the Government is willing to introduce changes, but has lamented that there is “not one responsible deputy” in the opposition with whom he can speak.
The judicial reform, which will expand ‘de facto’ government control over the judiciary, has led to protests in the streets and also more or less direct complaints from some senior officials such as Israel’s attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, or the president of the Supreme Court, Esther Hayut.
The Israeli president also believes that the debate is entering “dangerous” territory. “I ask all those involved in this disagreement to stop and breathe,” Herzog said, according to the Times of Israel newspaper.
The president has proposed stopping the process “for a moment” to give rise to a negotiation process, since he considers that “a great majority of the nation wants dialogue.”
Israel’s coalition government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and made up of various far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, has tried to push through laws that would allow Parliament to override Supreme Court decisions, as well as tip the balance in the Judicial Appointments Committee in favor of political representatives.
In fact, all the members of the coalition have signed a bill to amend the Basic Law that would make it possible to reinstate the Shas leader, Aryeh Deri, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court due to his conviction for fraud.
