President Isaac Herzog is expected to hold a series of talks this week with senior government officials over Justice Minister Yariv Levin's proposed judicial reforms and the controversy surrounding those reforms in order to reach a compromise on the issue, Israel Hayom reported.
Herzog's goal is to open a communication channel between the heads of the three branches of government. His hope is that within the framework of the dialogue, agreements will be reached on the nature of the reform in the relations between the branches.
These meetings will join the intense talks that Herzog had throughout the past week with many politicians, including Prime Minister Netanyahu. Officials briefed on the details refused to elaborate on the nature of the compromise Herzog is aiming for. However, it appears that Herzog delved into the issues themselves, and that the outline he formulated is broad and deep, and includes the readjustment of the relations between the branches of government.
One expected aspect of the planned compromise is an increase in the number of judges on the Supreme Court, which was an issue raised by Supreme Court President Justice Esther Hayut during her speech attacking Minister Levin's reforms last week.
From the conversations Herzog has already had with government officials, it appears that the officials, including Levin, are willing to make alterations to the judicial reform plan as it currently stands. Levin said upon the unveiling of the reforms that he welcomes recommendations from all sides. Knesset Constitution Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman has also stated that he would welcome recommendations and amendments from all sides.
On the other hand, from the talks that took place with the president of the Supreme Court, Justice Ester Hayut, it appears that she is willing to talk, but it is not clear to what extent she is willing to compromise on some kind of change to the existing judicial system.
Despite the huge differences between the parties on the issue, Herzog "works 20 hours a day", according to one of the sources, to bring about talks between the parties. "The president is worried about the sharp conflict between senior government officials, the opposition and the judicial system, as well as its spread to the general public and the possibility that it will turn into violence in the streets," said the source.