The Israeli president asks to postpone the processing of the judicial reform and seek a consensus

12 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, has asked this Sunday the far-right coalition government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to suspend the parliamentary processing of the judicial reform, which would be presented this Monday in the Knesset or Israeli Parliament and open a broad national debate to achieve a consensus.

Herzog, whose position is fundamentally ceremonial, has delivered a speech to the nation in which he has pointed out that “this is not a political dispute” but that “we are on the verge of a constitutional and social collapse”, according to the Israeli press. “I feel, we all feel, that we are in the moment that precedes a confrontation, even a violent confrontation. The powder keg is about to explode and brother will raise his hand against brother,” he warned.

Thus, Herzog has asked to paralyze the processing of the proposal that will be dealt with this Monday by the Constitution, Law and Justice commission of the Knesset until a dialogue is opened and a “broad consensus” is achieved on the norm.

Herzog has recognized that the Knesset is the elected and legitimate legislative body and that the government has the power to make government policies, “but there have to be checks and balances for the Supreme Court to be the guarantor of Israel and its society.”

In that sense, Herzog has warned that the proposed reform “goes against Israel’s very democratic foundations.” “The change can be legitimate. The courts can better represent the spectrum of Israeli society,” she stressed.

Regarding the situation of the judicial system, Herzog has warned that there is a lack of judges and personnel to be able to deliver justice and that “there is a lack of diversity” among those who wear the toga. “The judges must be chosen by a committee in which neither the judges nor the politicians have a majority and include agreed representatives of civil society (…). If one side wins, we will all have been defeated,” he stressed. .

Herzog’s statement comes after weeks of intense demonstrations and mobilizations against judicial reform supported by the opposition to the Netanyahu government. Opposition leader Yair Lapid and his ally Benny Gantz have already expressed their support for Herzog’s proposal, while Communications Minister and member of Netanyahu’s Likud party Shlomo Karhi has criticized the chief’s “hypocrisy” stance. of the State.

“The game is called hypocrisy and we have long since stopped participating in it. We continue with the reform with full force,” Karhi posted in a message on Twitter.