Israel’s right-wing coalition government and opposition parties began talks on Tuesday evening (March 28). This comes a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a pause on his legal reform plan which has sparked weeks of mass protest in the country. Israel is in the midst of what can only be described as a major political crisis after Netanyahu’s government proposed an overhaul of the country’s judiciary, earlier this year.
President Isaac Herzog’s office said, on Tuesday evening, that he was “currently meeting with the working teams representing the ruling coalition, Yesh Atid and the National Unity Party,” the two centrist parties for “a first dialogue meeting”. This comes days after Netanyahu fired Defence Minister Yoav Gallant which overnight plunged the ruling coalition into chaos.
On Monday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets outside the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in Jerusalem while major labour organisations called for a strike effectively bringing the whole country to a grinding halt. Hours later, Netanyahu delayed the process for the next session of parliament in order to “pass the reform through dialogue.” The next session will be after the Passover recess in April.
In a joint statement, on Tuesday, the leader of the opposition Yair Lapid who has since been sceptical of the move and Benny Gantz, a former defence minister said that these talks would stop immediately “if the law is put on put on the Knesset’s agenda,” reported AFP. The opposition had previously refused to negotiate until the process to pass the controversial overhaul was stopped.
Meanwhile, the Israeli PM, in a statement on Tuesday has also said that the goal is to “reach an agreement.” The two sides wrapped up talks after 90 minutes, said Herzog’s office, reported Times of Israel. The meeting was held “in a good atmosphere,” and will continue tomorrow. Today’s meeting included delegations from Netanyahu’s Likud party and opposition parties Yesh Atid and National Unity.
The legal reforms would threaten the checks and balances of the country as it has no written constitution while the proposed legislation seeks to weaken the Supreme court. It would also give absolute power to the ruling party coalition, which in this case would be Netanyahu’s Likud party, which also holds a majority in the Knesset.
Notably, after the first round of talks with the Israeli president, the Yesh Atid delegation said that they pushed for a “widely agreed upon constitution based on the values of the Declaration of Independence,” in a statement, as per Times of Israel.
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Meanwhile, activists despite Netanyahu hitting a pause on the overhaul have said they will continue their rallies. “This is another attempt of Netanyahu trying to gaslight the Israeli public in order to weaken the protest and then enact a dictatorship,” said the Umbrella Movement of demonstrators, in a statement. It added, “We will not stop the protest until the judicial coup is completely stopped.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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