Opposition leader Yair Lapid responded on Friday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the Prime Minister commented on the controversy surrounding the planned reforms in the judicial system.
“Netanyahu, you did not receive a mandate from the public to destroy democracy and the majority of the public in Israel, including Likud voters, are opposed to a hasty and destructive reform which is based on the fact that you are too weak to deal with the extremists in your government,” Lapid tweeted.
Netanyahu had said earlier, "A large majority of the public agrees that there is a need to make amendments to the judicial system and law enforcement. We talked about it before the elections and received a clear mandate from the public to do so. The amendments need to be made with responsibility and consideration, while hearing all the positions, and this is exactly the process that will happen now in the legislature."
"I suggest that everyone calm down and enter into a substantive discussion. When they say that the smallest amendment is the destruction of democracy, it is not only an incorrect argument - it is also an argument that does not allow for the understandings that should be reached in substantive discussions in the Israeli Knesset. I want to reassure you. Democracy is built on balance. It is kept evenly between the three authorities and this balance exists in all democracies in the world, it also existed in Israel in its first fifty years," added the Prime Minister.
"Was there no democracy here? Was there no protection for minority rights? Obviously yes, and it will be the same after the reform, for the benefit of all the citizens of Israel."
Meanwhile, police are gearing up for a major left-wing protest against the judicial reforms, scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv on Saturday night
Critics of Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s (Likud) plan to curtail the Supreme Court’s ability to overturn Knesset laws and to enable government ministers to select their own legal advisors are slated to gather in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square for a protest led by former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Israel Bar Association head Avi Himi.
Roughly 1,000 police officers will be deployed to the area to secure the demonstration.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)