talks continue after ‘pause’ announced on justice reform review

A first meeting took place on Tuesday between representatives of the ruling coalition and opposition parties in Israel.

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A meeting under the aegis of Israeli President Isaac Herzog with representatives of the opposition parties Yesh Atid and National Unity Party, March 28, 2023. (GPO / HANDOUT / ANADOLU AGENCY / AFP)

A first meeting has already taken place “in a positive spirit”. Negotiations between majority and opposition parties are continuing on Wednesday, March 29, on the highly controversial project to reform the justice system in Israel, announced the office of Israeli President Isaac Herzog. “After about an hour and a half, the meeting, which took place in a positive spirit, came to an end (…) Tomorrow, President Isaac Herzog will continue the series of meetings”he said Tuesday evening.

This first “dialogue meeting” took place at the residence of Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem, between “work teams representing the ruling coalition” and the opposition parties Yesh Atid and National Unity Party, according to the statement. Yaïr Lapid and Benny Gantz, respective leaders of these two centrist parties, announced on Monday that they were ready to dialogue with the majority, under the aegis of the Israeli president.

On Monday, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu announced that he had “decided on a break” in examining the justice reform project that is dividing the country, in order to give “a chance for real dialogue” with a view to the adoption of a more consensual text, during the summer parliamentary session which begins on 30 April. This “break”, announced after the beginning of a general strike and the appearance of tensions within the majority, was greeted with skepticism by protesters and several political commentators.

The fear of an authoritarian drift

The project, carried by one of the most right-wing governments that Israel has known, gave birth to one of the largest popular mobilization movements in the country. Yaïr Lapid and Benny Gantz accepted the mediation of Isaac Herzog, but they also warned the government against any deception. Their two parties notably warned that they would leave “immediately” the negotiating table if a bill on the composition of the commission responsible for selecting judges – a highly contested aspect of the reform – “is put on the program of Parliament”.

For the government, the reform aims to rebalance powers by reducing the prerogatives of the Supreme Court – which the executive considers politicized – in favor of Parliament. Opponents of the project, on the contrary, denounce an illiberal or authoritarian drift.


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